Odisha: A Model Anganwadi Centre In Small Village Of Sambalpur
Along with intellectual development of children, special attention is paid to nutrition; breakfast and lunch are provided six days a week, reports Badshah Jusman Rana.
Published : August 2, 2026 at 5:36 PM IST
|Updated : August 2, 2026 at 7:56 PM IST
Sambalpur: Step into the Veer Surendra Sai Adarsh Anganwadi centre at Kudopali village, Maneswar block, in Odisha’s Sambalpur district, and chances are you will think you are in a private playschool.
The Anganwadi centre has educational and play equipment for children and a courtyard enclosed by a wall. There is also a TV installed inside the classroom for children, and there are boards with numbers from 1 to 100 on the wall, along with colourful pictures of trees with the names of 12 months. Using all these aids, children are taught through entertainment and games.
Here, along with the intellectual development of children, special attention is also paid to their nutrition. To make sure young children do not suffer from nutritional deficiencies, breakfast and lunch with different types of vegetables are provided six days a week.
While the Odisha government has implemented Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, a Centrally sponsored umbrella scheme, to upgrade Anganwadi infrastructure, improve early childhood care, and plug nutrition gaps, the Sambalpur district administration has gone a step further and started the Adarsh Anganwadi Centre Abhiyan in its district.
Under this campaign, the Veer Surendra Sai Adarsh Anganwadi Centre has been built in such a way that it looks like a private play school. It has been built on the theme of Building as Learning Aid (BALA). In fact, the district administration has now built three Adarsh Anganwadi centres in Kudopali, Mura and Khinda villages from District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds.
"Our model Anganwadi centre has more facilities than private play schools. Why should our children pay money to go to private play schools? Keeping this in mind, such a model Anganwadi centre has been built,” says Purnima Tripathi, programme officer of the District Collector's Office. “This step has been taken for their intellectual development and complete cognitive development through dance, songs, and sports."
Tripathi says there is a system in place here to help children learn by looking at different things. “Math, letters, and counting are taught through games. A different breakfast is served here every day. Semolina halwa, chuda upma, gajamaog and fruits are served in the morning. Cooked food is also served every day."
Parents of young children are happy with the Anganwadi centre. "My daughter is studying here. Now after the work done by the district administration and the government, it seems like a private school. There are all kinds of relevant arrangements for the children here. The environment of this place is good. Breakfast and midday meals are also very good here."
Adar Pandey, another mother from the village, says, "This Anganwadi has all kinds of facilities. There are various educational tools for children's entertainment. Children are given different types of breakfast for six days from Monday to Saturday. Midday meal is also good here."
Speaking about this model Anganwadi centre, Sambalpur District Magistrate Siddheshwar Baliram Bondar says, "The pre-primary education programme of children is very important for us. We need the intellectual development of children along with their nutrition. For this, the state government has a viable Anganwadi programme. In our district, apart from this, some Anganwadi centres have been built as model Anganwadi centres. The classrooms there have been built on the theme of 'Building as Learning Aid' (BALA). While three such model Anganwadi centres were built in the first phase, the aim is to open model Anganwadi centres in every block and gram panchayat."
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