Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Ikram Shariff has directed officials to ensure that welfare schemes for women and children reach eligible beneficiaries directly and that awareness programmes do not remain mere paperwork. Addressing a district-level coordination committee meeting on various schemes of the Department of Women and Child Development at his office in Kalaburagi on Thursday, Mr. Shariff said officials should take personal responsibility for ensuring effective implementation of the schemes at the grassroots level.

He directed officials to ensure that every awareness programme conducted at the gram panchayat, school and college levels every three months has the participation of at least 100 people, including members of the public, students, parents and local elected representatives. Child Development Project Officers should ensure that such programmes are actually conducted instead of merely submitting reports on paper, he said.

Officials working at the field level should submit reports to their superiors, along with photographs carrying GPS-based date and time information, to establish that the programmes and activities had actually been conducted, he said. He also made it mandatory for officials to accurately mark their daily attendance on the ‘Karyavya’ app.

Mr. Shariff directed officials to install Aadhaar-based biometric attendance systems and CCTV cameras at all Santhwana Centres and Shakti Sadans (Swadhara Gruha) in the district within 15 days to ensure transparency in their functioning.

He warned that funding would be withheld from centres whose CCTV live-streaming systems were not connected to the mobile phones of senior officials.

He also ordered the immediate shifting of the Swadhara Gruha, currently functioning in a rented building, to a suitable government-owned building. This would help save public funds and provide a safer and better environment for the residents, he said.

The Deputy Commissioner directed officials to inspect the condition of weighing machines, stadiometers and infantometers used at anganwadi centres to monitor children’s physical growth and malnutrition. A list of defective equipment should be prepared and submitted along with a proposal for the purchase of new equipment, he said.

Mr. Shariff also stressed the need to create wider awareness in rural areas about the women’s helpline 181 and child helpline 1098.

He said the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana was being implemented to improve the nutritional and health status of pregnant and lactating women. Under the scheme, eligible women receive ₹5,000 in two instalments for the first child and ₹6,000 in a single instalment if the second child is a girl. The assistance is credited directly to the beneficiary’s bank account. Women eligible under the scheme, except government employees and employees of public sector undertakings, can avail themselves of the benefit, he said.

Assistant Commissioner of Sedam Sub-Division Prabhu Reddy, Additional Superintendent of Police Mahesh Meghannavar, DUDC Project Director Munnavar Daula, Deputy Director of Women and Child Development Rajkumar Rathod, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr Sharanabasappa Kyatnal, District Surgeon Rukayya Asnaraba, Assistant Director of Child Welfare Sharanappa, district- and taluk-level CDPOs, NGO representatives and mission coordinators of various schemes attended the meeting.

Published - August 13, 2026 07:58 pm IST