Haryana Irrigation and Women & Child Development Minister Shruti Choudhry on Friday conducted surprise inspections of Anganwadi centres, crèches, child care institutions and Shishu Niketan centres in Panchkula to review the arrangements and facilities being provided there. During the inspection, she directly interacted with children and gathered information regarding the facilities, nutrition and care arrangements being provided to them.
During the inspection, negligence was found at several levels, following which the Minister strongly reprimanded the concerned officials. She observed that even senior women officers at the headquarters level were not regularly visiting the centres for inspections, while the monitoring mechanism at the field level was also found unsatisfactory.
On the occasion, Shruti Choudhry directed officials that no compromise would be tolerated regarding children’s nutrition, health, safety and hygiene. She clearly stated that strict administrative action would be taken against concerned officers and employees if any negligence related to children is found.
She instructed all officials to ensure regular inspections, improve arrangements at the centres and accord top priority to better childcare and welfare services. During the inspection, Shruti Choudhry also ordered explanations to be sought from the concerned Child Development Project Officer and Supervisor in connection with the negligence found during inspection.