An anganwadi in Odisha’s Kendrapara district has not been functioning for nearly three months after residents stopped sending children allegedly due to the appointment of a Dalit woman, Sharmistha Sethy, as a helper-cum-cook.
The 20-year-old graduate claimed that villagers started boycotting the centre at Nuagaon under Ghadiamal gram panchayat in Rajnagar block soon after her appointment on November 20, 2025. “They are also not collecting free food items like sattu (flour made from roasted gram) and eggs for children. My family is very poor. I got this job after much hardship. I want to become a teacher, but no one listened to my repeated appeals,” she said.
Ms. Sethy claimed that the boycott was rooted in caste prejudice. “They are not sending their children because I am a Dalit. Society has advanced in many ways, but if we continue to cling to casteism, we cannot progress,” she said.
An anganwadi worker corroborated Ms. Sethy’s account, saying 20 children are enrolled at the centre but none of them are attending it now. “We went door to door, but no one is willing to send their children,” the worker said.
‘Exploring solution’
