New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Only 1,761 anganwadi-cum-creches are operational out of 11,395 approved, the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Wednesday.

The establishment of creches in anganwadis was announced in 2023. These anganwadi-cum-creches (AWCCs)aim to help provide care to children in the age group of six months to six years. This initiative seeks to increase women's participation in the workforce by offering comprehensive childcare services.

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The 1761 operational AWCCs are catering to 28,783 beneficiaries, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur said in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

According to the data shared by her, 1,761 AWCCs are operational out of total 11,395 approved.

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While states/Union Territories like Mizoram, Goa and Ladakh have operationalised all approved AWCC, in states like Chhattisgarh there are just 175 operational AWCCs out of 1500 approved, in Assam 50 AWCC are operational out of 500 approved, while Telangana has just eight operational AWCCs out of 1033 approved.

States like Maharashtra have no operational AWCC while 345 have been approved.

Responding to another question, Thakur said there are 4158 children currently residing in open shelters across the country with the highest number of such children presently in West Bengal at 845, followed by Karnataka at 490, Manipur at 324 and Rajasthan at 282.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)