To compile the 2019-20 league table of model anganwadis, C fore field researchers interviewed 455 sample respondents including anganwadi teachers and SEC (socio-economic category) ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘E’ parents in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Last year, in the cause of supporting the Central government’s ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) programme (estb. 1976), EducationWorld introduced the first-ever ranking of government anganwadis — essentially nutrition centres for lactating mothers and children in the age group 0-5 years from poorest households which are also mandated to provide early childhood education — in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore to serve as models for the country’s 1.4 million anganwadis. With the inaugural rankings of Top 3 anganwadis in the three metros receiving encouraging feedback from our readers, to compile the 2019-20 league tables of best anganwadis, field researchers of the Delhi-based market research company Centre for Forecasting and Research (C fore) interviewed 455 sample respondents including anganwadi teachers and SEC (socio-economic category) ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘E’ parents in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. “The sample respondents were asked to rate anganwadis that they were aware of on a ten point scale under six parameters. The parameters of assessment were competence of teachers, infrastructure, individual attention to students, nutrition/child care, safety and hygiene, and leadership quality. Schools assessed by less than 25 persons were eliminated from the rankings exercise. All the parameters were given equal weightage except competence of faculty which was given double weightage,” says Premchand Palety, chief executive of C fore explaining the rankings methodology and parameters specially devised for government anganwadis. In the Union Budget 2019-20, the Central government allocated Rs.19,834 crore for the ICDS programme — a mere Rs.2,361 per child per year — a sum clearly inadequate to provide nutrition, leave alone professionally administered ECCE. Ab initio, EducationWorld has been demanding and has also repeatedly published detailed schema for providing an additional Rs.110,000 crore for the ICDS programme. In the pages following, we present league tables ranking the top anganwadis in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore with the twin objectives of acknowledging/highlighting the excellent work being done by these role model anganwadis, and building the pressure of public opinion to force the government to raise the budgetary allocation for the ICDS programme.
