Indore: Chouhan’s concern for the Anganwadis is a gimmick, claims Congress

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee termed the campaign of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for collecting toys for Anganwadi children “pretentious” and said, “He’s been ruling the state for the past 17 years but the condition of Anganwadi children is poor.”

State spokesperson of the MPCC Santosh Singh Gautam said children in Anganwadis needed nutritious food and care, but the chief minister was fooling the people by pulling handcarts and collecting toys.

“There are more than 38 lakh beneficiaries of age three to six years registered in the Anganwadis of the state, but over 7.5 lakh children don’t get proper nutrition here. Moreover, hundreds of Anganwadis don’t even have electricity connections, while over 32,000 Anganwadis don’t have toilets. Thousands of Anganwadis don’t have a pucca building, or the necessary medicines,” he said, addressing a press conference on Wednesday.

The Congress leader also referred to the reports of the National Family Health Survey and said that the percentage of children of ages 6 months to 59 months having acute anaemia had increased from 68 per cent to 72 per cent in the past five years.

State secretary Rajesh Choukse, MLA Sanjay Shukla and city president Vinay Bakliwal also shared data on the poor condition of the Anganwadis in other districts of the state.

‘CM’s promise only a gimmick’

‘The chief minister claimed to have eliminated malnutrition from the state in 18 months, but it’s improving at a speed of one per cent per year and the CM’s promise has proved only a gimmick’ — Santosh Singh Gautam, state spokesperson of the MPCC