In a bid to reach out to women in remote villages of the state and help in effective implementation of different schemes of the Centre and the Orissa government, the state department of women and child development plans to add about 20,000 Anganwadi women to its existing network of Anganwadi workers.
The state department of women and child development is already leveraging its network of about 40,000 Anganwadi workers to help provide basic amenities to the women in rural areas of the state.
“We have a network of about 40,000 Anganwadi workers and we plan to add another 20,000 workers to help in effective implementation of the various schemes meant for women empowerment and gender equality”, said Mona Sharma, secretary, women and child development, Orissa government.
“The state department for women and child development has been able to mobilise the women of Orissa through its Mission Shakti programme. For promotion of gender equality and empowering women which is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we need to work in close coordination with the local urban and rural bodies”, she added.
Sharma was speaking at a workshop jointly organised by Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) and the Orissa unit of Unicef on Promotion of Gender Equality and Empowering Women, one of the eight MDGs.
According to the 2001 Census, the enrolment of females in primary education in Orissa was 43.42 per cent which was slightly higher than the national average of 43.08 per cent. In higher secondary education, the female enrolment in the state was at par with the national average at about 35 per cent.
