Belagavi district needs to be divided for better administration: Laxmi Hebbalkar

Laxmi Hebbalkar speaks to DH’s Shruthi H M Sastry on her vision for the department, while touching upon other administrative issues

Laxmi Hebbalkar, Minister for Women and Child Development, Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens, represents Belagavi Rural and is the lone woman in the Cabinet. She speaks to DH’s Shruthi H M Sastry on her vision for the department, while touching upon other administrative issues. Excerpts:

What will be your areas of priority for the department?

One of my main priorities will be to set up smart Anganwadis other than improving their general infrastructure. There are about 70,000 Anganwadis in the state, of which about 50% run in rented places. This needs to change. Anganwadis also need infrastructure such as RO filters, play areas and garden for kids. I wish to digitise them, too. For instance, children can learn rhymes on tabs. As much as 80% of the children who come to Anganwadis are from BPL families. It’s important to give them a good starting point for education by modernising the Anganwadis.

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The women and child development department is one of the most important departments that implements policies covering a child in the womb as well as senior citizens.

It covers 50% of the population and directly impacts people’s lives. It’s unfortunate that this department is often neglected by governments. I’ll work towards ensuring efficient administration of the department.

The state hasn’t been able to efficiently tackle malnutrition and anemia in Kalyana Karnataka. How do you think this can be improved?

This is a persistent problem. We’re spending anywhere between Rs 12-16 per day per child. We need to optimise this expenditure by ensuring that children get adequate nutrition. We will continue giving eggs. We are also thinking about introducing protein powder.

For a couple of years now, Anganwadi workers are paying for eggs out of their own pocket as the government has failed to compensate them on time.

I want to streamline this. The process is scattered now as tenders are given at district-level. Some districts are doing well, while others are not. I want to bring it all under one umbrella so that the monitoring process becomes easier.

The focus of the department appears to be mostly limited to women and children. We rarely hear about policy interventions for senior citizens.

The minute we talk about senior citizens, the tendency is to think about old age homes. What about their health, their well-being? We need to look at it from a broader perspective. I’ve plans to set up recreation centres for senior citizens at every district centre. We will begin with a pilot programme. We have government land in all district headquarters. So, identifying land isn’t a problem.

While it is a crucial portfolio, isn’t it a stereotype that the lone woman minister is handed this department and no other?

I look at it differently. Women ministers can do better justice to this department; we can empathise with women and children better than anyone else. This will also reflect in better policies. I believe that’s why women are preferred for this portfolio.

There have been repeated demands for division of Belagavi district. What’s your take on it?

I agree with this demand. This isn’t just my opinion, but the opinion of everyone from the region cutting across party lines. This is a huge district and from an administrative point of view, the division needs to happen. For instance, I’ve been made in charge of Udupi district. Belagavi taluk itself is as big as Udupi district with about 12 lakh voters. I’ve proposed the issue before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as well. We’ll definitely take this forward.