From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jun 9: Chief minister B S Yediyurappa held a video conference with Anganwadi workers of different districts on Wednesday and held discussions regarding their work, problems, challenges and other issues.
Anganwadi workers are providing notable service in combating Covid-19 at the grassroots level. They are playing a significant role in protecting the health of pregnant women, lactating mothers and infants, the Chief minister said.
"Experts have opined that the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will affect children the most. In this background, your role in protecting the children is very important,’’ Yediyurappa told the Anganwadi workers.
Children with malnutrition and suffering from ill-health must be identified and their health must be prioritized. Anganwadi workers must be in constant touch with the health department and must strive to combat the pandemic, he suggested.
The chief minister appreciated the efforts of Anganwadi workers in distributing the nutrition food kits to beneficiaries at home as well as to conduct house to house visit to create awareness and also work in the gram panchayat level task force too.
He expressed happiness over the fact that about 85.91% of Anganwadi workers/assistants have been inoculated.
Anganwadi workers have been considered as front line warriors and Rs 30 lac compensation has been announced for those who have died due to Covid, he said pointing out that during the first wave about 20 workers and/assistants had lost their lives and Rs 30 lac each have been distributed.
The state government has announced a relief package to various categories affected due to the second wave. Anganwadi workers will also get Rs 2,000 each.
Anganwadi workers who spoke during the occasion explained that along with their department’s work, they carry out work at panchayath level task force, visit houses to create awareness, identify the infected persons and provide vaccination for the differently-abled.
They said they are creating awareness amongst mothers regarding the importance of nutritious food to children as part of preparedness for the third wave.
The chief minister consoled Girija, who has lost her husband due to Covid and advised her to take care of her health. Impressed by her work and articulation, Manjula Sangamesh, from Belagavi was invited to his home for a cup of coffee when she would visit Bengaluru.
Brijit Breganza of Uttara Kannada district said that pregnant women in their area are given appropriate attention and they are also taken to the hospital in case of any health issues.
Savithramma of Kolar who is serving as an Anganwadi worker for the last 30 years felt there was panic among people during the first wave of Covid-19.
People were following the quarantine rules. Though there is more death in the second wave of the pandemic, people have no fear and are not bothered to follow the rules. The Chief Minister suggested that people should be convinced to follow the rules.
Leelavathi from Devenahalli said there are no ASHA workers in their area. "Being a member of the task force, I have to visit every house, collect swab test samples along with health department staff, trace Covid patients and admit them to Covid Care Centres,’’ she said.
Special workshops were conducted and more than 150 vaccines were given to the public including differently-abled persons.
Shilpa from Shivamogga stated happily that her village is free from Covid-19.
Nagarathna from Ballary said that two undernourished kids of their area were sent to a child care centre which was started yesterday.
Sumangala Bandi from Koppala district said that along with the Covid-19 duties, children of their Anganwadis have got certificates of participation in acting, singing songs and other events conducted by different organisations.
Sumalatha of Udupi district explained the difficulty in distributing food grains to houses of beneficiaries who are in large number.
Minister for women and child welfare department, Shashikala Jolle said conducting surveys of other departments along with the duties of this department has increased the work pressure. Many workers have requested to lessen the work pressure.
The Chief Minister assured to examine the matter in coming days.
M Laxminarayan, advisor to the chief minister, Anjum Parvez, principal secretary to women and child welfare, Anuradha, director of women and child welfare and other officers were present.
Namma Metro, suburban railway
Earlier, the chief minister held a review on the progress in the Bengaluru metro train and suburban railway projects.
Chief secretary, P Ravikumar, chief minister’s additional chief secretary, Dr E V Ramana Reddy, finance department’s additional chief secretary, I S N Prasad, Urban Development Deparment additional chief secretary and BMRCL managing director, Rakesh Singh and K-RIDE managing director, Amit Garg participated in the meeting.