Generous' order on women and child welfare exposes Kerala's prejudice

Thiruvananthapuram: The latest order of the Social Justice Department on women and child welfare might seem generous but what it really does is confirm the Keralite's mistrust of migrant labourers.

The order, issued in December 2016, states that ‘anganwadis’ should provide children of migrant labourers, too, with nutritious food. The order further directs that pregnant and lactating migrant women should also be granted nutrition and health assistance offered to local women through ‘anganwadis’. under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Such an order is unnecessary as all the services offered through ‘anganwadis’ have to be granted to all children found within the ambit of a particular ‘anganwadi’ without any discrimination. It was the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights that forced the hand of the Social Justice Department. A state-wide assessment conducted by the Commission had found that children of migrant labourers were discriminated against by ‘anganwadi’ staff across the state.

“There is no need for such an order, it is superfluous, but we were only giving an emphasis so as to avoid any kind of confusion,” said V S Venu, the state project director of ICDS, under which ‘anganwadis’ function. Cini, an anganwadi worker in Athiyannoor in Thiruvananthpaurm district, said there was a belief among ‘anganwadi’ functionaries that benefits should be restricted to locals. Though ICDS is a central scheme, grassroots functionaries consider it as a state scheme.

Anganwadi functionaries cite duplication as another reason why they were reluctant to include migrant families in their annual survey. “We have found that many of them corner benefits from various ‘anganwadis’,” a worker who falls under Kochi Urban – III ICDS Unit said. Interestingly, in spite of the duplication, lack of adequate demand is the major issue faced by ICDS in the state.

“Only less than one-third of the total child population in the state depend on ‘anganwadis’. The dependence is far less in the case of pregnant and lactating mothers,” the ICDS state project director said. “So we have told workers not to worry about duplication,” he said.