Five kids, 2 women injured in anganwari roof collapse

Five children and two women were injured when the roof of an anganwari centre at Boha town of the district collapsed on Wednesday. The anganwari centre was being run from a private building, which was reportedly declared unsafe by the building and roads department several years ago.

Five children, below five year of age, one anganwari worker and mother of a year-old child got injured when the roof collapsed suddenly. Mansa deputy commissioner Amit Dhaka had announced for free treatment of the injured.

In Mansa district, there are 798 anganwari centres, 283 of which are in Budhlada block alone. The anganwari centres are being run from private buildings at a rent of R200 in rural areas and R500 in urban areas. Children up to six years of age and pregnant women are provided healthy nutrition at these centres.

As per the government instructions, each anganwari centre should cover a population of 1,000. In Mansa, most of anganwari centres are either running from dharamshalas or on private building provided by village panchayats. Each centre is covering population of around 4,000.

Speaking about the roof collapse, Budhlada senior medical officer Dr Balvir Singh said, “Just as the report reached us that the victims are being brought to our hospital from Boha town, we made all arrangements and provided treatment to children and women. All five children and two women are out of danger, while a child of around three years has been referred to district hospital, Mansa as he had suffered severe injury.”

In February, three children, including two sisters, were killed at Ahlupur in Sardulgarh after a truck rammed into the wall of an anganwari centre.

Child development project officer, Budhlada block, Jagroop Singh said, “The building was in a good condition. We are looking into the reasons behind its sudden collapse.

In our block, all the centres are running from buildings that are in good condition and we make regular visits to all the centres to review situation. If we are told that any building is not in a good condition, we take necessary measures. For rural areas, we get R200 as rent for building of the centre, while it's R500 in towns. Two children had been referred to the Mansa civil hospital as X-ray machine and other facilities are not available at the Budhlada hospital. We have requested the Mansa DC to announce compensation for the victims.”

President, District Anganwari Worker Union, Simarpal Kaur said, “We had submitted a number of applications with the district administration, demanding the proper and safe buildings of anganwari centres as most structures are in very poor condition. Along with children, mother of a year-old child was also injured at the anganwari centre on Wednesday where around 20 children used to come.”