As we mark 50 years of the ICDS programme, we celebrate the Anganwadi, not just as a government initiative, but as a living, breathing part of India’s everyday care ecosystem. These centres have held generations of children, mothers, and communities through care, nourishment, learning, and play. From the first meal of the day to a child’s first scribble, the Anganwadi is often where life outside the home begins.
At Bachpan Manao, we’ve spent the past year documenting what this looks like on the ground, through essays, field notes, and visual stories that honour Anganwadi workers, rethink care, and reimagine learning.
Through stories, research, and moments of play, we’ve been asking: what if we saw Anganwadis not just as government infrastructure, but as centres of learning, care, and community imagination?
– We began by spotlighting how these spaces are not yet recognised as true centres of learning, despite housing the country’s most formative years. While policies like the National Curriculum Framework – Foundational Stage, 2022 offer a strong vision, we’ve seen Anganwadis begin to bring that vision to life, in small, thoughtful ways that centre play, care, and community.
– Still, joy persists. In Joyful Childhoods and What We Forgot About Play, we witnessed how children lead learning when play is trusted, not tamed.
– We also traced the invisible architecture of care, from factory crèches to care networks in the margins, and asked what it truly takes to make care work, work.
– Through field visits and storytelling, we met Manjula, an Anganwadi teacher whose classroom transformed through connection, not instruction. We learned from ECCE champions in Bangalore and curated moments of wonder through tools like Slate and Slate Scribbles.
– The Bachpan Manao Sabha brought these ideas together: a day of shared thought, story, and possibility.
– Alongside, our research unpacked the daily realities of Anganwadi workers and called for urgent reframing. As we argued in Rebranding Anganwadis, this is not about optics. It’s about dignity, resources, and recognition.
The mainstream press too captured these nuances:
- Every effort counts when an Anganwadi worker turns up daily.
- Care exists even amidst constraints.
- The pressure of measurable outcomes continues to undermine play.
- And the worker, always at the centre, unseen but unshakable.
As we look ahead, these stories remain our anchors. They remind us that care is not a footnote, it is the main text. And Anganwadis, in all their complexity, are where India’s future steadily grows.
)
