Williamnagar, May 27: Taking steps to transform the state’s social welfare services, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday distributed smartphones to Anganwadi workers at a special programme held at St George Higher Secondary School in Samanda, East Garo Hills.
The event saw Anganwadi workers from across the East Garo Hills participate in the special programne which was also attended by Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh and PHE Minister Marcuise Marak.
The smartphone project, backed by a ₹6 crore investment from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, provided 6,162 smartphones equipped with the POSHAN App to Anganwadi workers across the region.
Encouraging and lauding these grassroot workers, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma emphasized that the smartphones would revolutionize the workers’ ability to perform critical tasks, such as recording real-time data on child growth and monitoring social welfare schemes. “These phones will empower our Anganwadi workers, improve service delivery, and ensure better outcomes for our communities,” he said.
The POSHAN App, pre-installed on the devices, digitizes traditional record-keeping, replacing physical registers with a streamlined system for tracking children’s health metrics, including height and weight, up to age six. Workers will also receive incentives for consistent data uploads to the POSHAN Tracker, ensuring robust monitoring and accountability.
In addition to the smartphone distribution, the Chief Minister handed out IIT Innovation ECO H2O Filters to Anganwadi centers, to provide safe drinking water to rural children.
On the same day, the event also saw the inauguration of the new St George Higher Secondary School building, dedicated to fostering learning and creativity among students.
Adding to the day’s highlights, students received M-Tabs (Digital Learn Aid) to support digital learning.
