Hardlook: Vadodara paints rosy picture, but dark spots remain

In the narrow lanes of Shantinagar slum area in Gajrawadi here, a crooked signboard on an exposed brick wall of the house belonging to Ratna Rajput identifies the anganwadi that runs out of a barely 80-sq-feet room. In the small space that remains after a line of polythene sacks of the “monthly supplies”, 25-odd children have lined up to form a “train”, with a slightly older Harisiddhi blowing the whistle.Rajput, an anganwadi assistant, says the anganwadi has been running from her premises for 15 years, in absence of the government land to construct a better unit. “I receive a rent of Rs 750 per month and since I am involved with the project, my home is open to the children. So, many children have grown up here in the last 15 years,” she says. The house has a toilet, too, unlike several other anganwadis in the city that are in a state of disorder.Vadodara’s 300 anganwadis, split into two units — Ghatak I and Ghatak II — comprise over 29,000 children aged up to 5 years and belonging to families settled in slum pockets or slum redevelopment schemes. While 40 of the 177 anganwadis of Ghatak I are run by Kashiba Children’s Hospital, 137 are administered by- See more at: tp://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/hardlook-vadodara-paints-rosy-picture-but-dark-spots-remain/#sthash.CFS7mWCX.dpuf