Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The mobile number of Anganwadi workers has fallen on wrong hands exposing them to the cyber crooks and online stalkers.
The phone numbers of Anganwadi workers are put on display at anganwadi centers to enable the beneficiaries to remain connected with them for getting information about the government-run schemes.
However, this is proving risky to these women workers as online fraudsters and stalkers are bothering and threatening them. The government has launched women and child centric schemes like Ladli Behna Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and other schemes for children in the state.
The women and child welfare department has instructed these Anganwadi workers to reply to each and every call made to them.
“Sometimes the call from Bhopal comes to check if we are taking the call or not, but displaying our phone numbers has not only put our privacy on stake but has also exposed us to all sorts of risk,” one of the anganwadi workers told Free Press pleading anonymity.
A number of Anganwadi workers, who had attended a regional conference on child welfare and security here at the Ravindra Bhawan on Sunday, shared their issues with Free Press. “We have to attend all calls without a miss.
Crooks call posing as senior officers and seek details of a scheme and then take mobile number and the account details of the beneficiaries and when we deny sharing the same the caller ‘official’ abuses us and also threatens to take action for not sharing the desired details,” said an anganwadi staffer.
The anganwadi workers have been directed by the department authorities against sharing any details of the beneficiary to anyone. She further said that sometimes the caller seeks their (Anganwadi worker) bank details, and if the staffer is aware of the nefarious deeds of the cyber crooks, they deny but a few unfortunate ones who are clueless about the cyber frauds fall victim to these online cheats.
Citing the way the callers speak and their dialect, the Anganwadi staffers claimed that they (callers) are mostly from Kerala or some other Southern states, or Bihar and Jharkhand.
The workers said they have not filed any police complaint, but had shared the issue with department officials. We have become ‘smart’ and are dealing with such fraudsters and cyber stalkers, they added.
No Such Complaint From Department: ADG
ADG cyber crime Yogesh Deshmukh said complaints regarding cyber frauds are pouring in at the district level police stations but so far the department has not approached cyber police headquarters in connection with any such complaint (Anganwadi worker).
