Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has pledged to construct 5000 new buildings for anganbadi centres in Chhattisgarh. The Chief Minister made this announcement during the Abhar Sammelan event held at the Science College Ground in the state capital on Tuesday. Baghel also announced that anganbadi assistants and workers would be honoured throughout State on November 14.

Under the Saksham Scheme, the annual income limit for beneficiaries will be increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Additionally, the loan limit for women’s self-help groups will be increased from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. In the upcoming assembly session, the Chief Minister has also assured that the honorarium for block coordinators and master trainers will be raised. He has announced that his government has increased the honorarium of anganwadi workers, anganwadi assistants, and mini anganwadi workers in State. The honorarium of anganwadi workers has been increased from Rs 6,500 to Rs 10,000 per month, while the honorarium of anganwadi assistants has been increased from Rs 3,500 to Rs. 5,000 per month. The honorarium of mini anganwadi workers has been increased from Rs 4,500 to Rs 7,500 per month. In addition, an additional amount of Rs. 2,200 will be given per month to Mitanins, who are community health workers in State.

Baghel also highlighted that his government has taken significant steps in the fields of health and education in Chhattisgarh, and said that the State is no longer known as ‘Naxalgarh’. The Chief Minister expressed his gratitude towards Anganbadi workers, assistants, and mitanins for their services to the community. Baghel also acknowledged the significant role played by his government in reducing malnutrition rates in the state. During his address, T S Singhdeo, Minister for Public Health and Family Welfare Department, praised Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel for fulfilling the promises made in the manifesto for anganwadi workers, Anganwadi assistants, and Mitanins. Singhdeo also stated that the State government would work towards providing better health services to the people of the state with the assistance of Mitanins.

Anila Bhendia, the Minister for Women and Child Development Department, expressed that Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is committed to providing respect and empowerment to the women of the state and making them self-reliant. Bhuvnesh Yadav, Secretary of Women and Child Development Department, and Bhim Singh, Director of Health Services also spoke on the occassion. Some anganbadi workers, assistants, and mitanins also shared their views and expressed gratitude towards the Chief Minister for hiking their honorarium. In recognition of their excellent services, six Anganbadi workers and five mitanins were felicitated during the programme. The Chief Minister was also garlanded by mitanins, anganbadi workers and assistants. The event was attended by several public representatives and officers, including Parliamentary Secretary Gurudayal Banjare, MLAs Satyanarayan Sharma, Dhanendra Sahu, Kuldeep Juneja, Dr. Vinay Jaiswal, Dr. K K Dhruw, Anita Yogendra Sharma, Chairperson of State Commission for Women Dr Kiranmayi Nayak, State Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Girish Dewangan, Speaker of Raipur Municipal Corporation Pramod Dubey, and others. Thousands of Anganbadi workers, assistants, and mitanins also participated in the programme.