Ganjam village's lone Anganwadi centre in ruins; children study under peril

Despite multiple government initiatives to improve education in Odisha, the ground reality in Ganjam district’s Sunakhandi village tells a starkly different story. The village’s only Anganwadi centre is in a dire state, posing serious risks to children’s safety and learning environment for years.

Numerous schemes are being launched to uplift the standard of education. However, their actual implementation on the ground remains questionable.

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In Sunakhandi village of Sorada block, the entire community relies on a lone Anganwadi centre for elementary education. Unfortunately, this lone centre is in a dilapidated condition, dangerous, neglected, and unfit for learning.

Cement has peeled off the roof, exposing rusted iron rods. The place resembles a ‘well of death’ more than a classroom. Despite these hazards, young children continue to study in this crumbling structure, highlighting the deep neglect of rural educational infrastructure.

Built in 2007, the centre began deteriorating just a few years after its construction. Now, broken doors and windows, leaking ceilings, and falling plaster are a daily threat. During rains, water gushes through the roof, forcing children and staff to take shelter in the veranda to avoid accidents. The fear of the roof collapsing looms constantly.

Repeated complaints by Anganwadi workers to departmental officers have fallen on deaf ears. Despite years of appeals, no concrete action has been taken. Villagers fear a major tragedy is only a matter of time unless urgent repairs or reconstruction is undertaken.

On the administrative front, Bhanjanagar Sub-Collector has stated that instructions have already been issued for the construction of a new building, and the work is expected to begin shortly.

Local Anganwadi worker Babita Kumari Pani rightly puts it: “Only if these young children get a safe place to learn today, can we expect a better tomorrow.” Before raising the standard of education, the standard of the institutions themselves must be addressed.

“We have been rigorously reviewing in our district and our sub-division to construct new buildings in different places where Anganwadi centres are not there. Construction work of the Anganwadi centre you (OTV) are telling about will begin very shortly,” Bhanjanagar Sub-Collector, Umashankar Behera, stated when contacted.