Written By: Jatin, CMGGA Sonipat 2023
The Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates Programme acts as a bridge between state government flagship programmes and on-the-ground implementation.
The Kurar Anganwadi Centre in Block Ganaur, in July 2023, was my first of many visits to Playway Schools in the District of Sonipat as part of my stint as CMGGA Sonipat. The Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates Programme is a platform that has offered me the chance to deep dive into the governance sector and observe social issues from the perspective of an ‘insider-outsider’ while having the opportunity to interact with district officials, senior bureaucrats and the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana.
It stands as the first-of-its-kind youth-led good governance programme in India. Conceptualised to address the Haryana Chief Minister’s call for youth involvement in governance and efficient service delivery, CMGGA acts as a bridge between state government flagship programmes and on-the-ground implementation. The collaborative effort of the State Government of Haryana and Ashoka University brought this vision to life.
In May 2023, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana entrusted us with the task of visiting ‘Playway Schools’, which is an aspirational state programme that aims to implement the ‘early childhood care and education (ECCE)’ for children aged 3 to 5 years, as emphasised by the National Education Policy 2020. Playway Schools are essentially upgraded Anganwadi Centres, equipped with an enhanced variety of play-based learning material, a structured preschool curriculum guided by the ‘Varshik Sandarshika’ (the Annual Curriculum Calendar), and more qualified and trained Anganwadi Workers who perform the role of educators.
The Kurar Anganwadi Centre, located in Sonipat’s Ganaur, is among the 4,000 Playway Schools currently established in the state of Haryana. The earnest efforts of the Women & Child Development Department and Pratham (an execution partner of the Department for the Playschools program) are visible in how Saumya ji, an Anganwadi worker and a local of Kurar, passionately leads a class of 15 children in reciting poems and rhymes, paying close attention to assess each child’s cognitive skills, language and physical development in the process. While the sight was a pleasure to observe, I could not help but notice that the infrastructure that hosted these 15 children was inadequate and unable to properly cater to their needs.
The classroom had peeling walls masked by old charts and posters, visible cracks on the ceiling, uneven floor texture and dim, almost nonexistent lighting. One corner of the room was being utilised as a storage area, piled up with objects, affecting the aesthetics as well as posing a potential safety concern. In the absence of a separate kitchen space, the Anganwadi helper, Updesh ji, prepares meals for the children using a gas stove placed on the floor in the same room.
Seema Ji (the Supervisor of the Circle) further revealed that children had to walk a kilometre to access the toilet, which is shared with a high school class in a government school. She speaks highly of the Playway initiative, a concept that breathed new life into the Anganwadi System—unlocking its potential to provide holistic care and education services to children in the village. Yet, amidst the soaring aspirations, the systemic reality remained evident, as the current infrastructure and resources fell short of providing a conducive child-friendly learning environment.
Sadly, Kurar Playway School’s plight mirrored that of several others in the state – falling short of upgraded room infrastructure, functional toilets and kitchens, lacking electricity and purified drinking water, and missing the visual appeal required to captivate and engage children. A well-functioning ECCE system can be the foundation for socio-emotional development, cognitive development and other parameters of foundational learning, making this an important area of focus and investment.
With limited capacity and resources, the WCD Department shoulders the sole burden of implementing the Playway Schools initiative. Further, infrastructure upgradation is not necessarily a task that the department may have been best equipped to deal with given that they do not have their technical staff.
The department also lacks the bargaining power to persuade other departments to support them in bridging the aforementioned gaps. Recognising these challenges, discussions and deliberations were held at Ashoka University during our second CMGGA Forum (a series of on-campus conferences to support the ‘field to forum’ approach; debriefing, skill building and curating forward-looking strategies).
Leveraging the access to the District Administration that the CMGGA Programme has, an intervention was designed to catalyse inter-departmental coordination through the formation of ‘District-Level Early Childhood Care and Education Committees’ (DLECs) in all 22 districts of Haryana. The DLEC is typically chaired by the Deputy Commissioner or the Additional Deputy Commissioner. It comprises representatives from not only the WCD Department, but also brings together stakeholders from the School Education Department, the Development & Panchayats Department, the Health Department, the Public Health and Engineering Department, and the Power Supply Departments.
This was the first step in building a collaborative approach for a ‘mission mode’ engagement in ensuring one common goal – that 100% Playway Schools in Haryana shall have all basic infrastructure parameters. To standardise quality and ensure access to basic infrastructure to enable a comfortable and enabling learning environment, six parameters (room, kitchen, child-friendly toilet, drinking water, metered electricity and BaLA viz. Building as Learning Aids – Paintings) were identified for intervention.
District Level ECCE Committees (DLECs) provide a forum for developing collaborative strategies that work best for respective districts. For instance, in Sonipat, the DLEC strategy was focused on leveraging industries for CSR, unlocking funds through the District Development Plan, and the adoption of Playway Schools by IAS and HCS officers in the district. A monitoring dashboard prepared for Sonipat by our intervention helps the DLEC review the progress of the programme regularly and problem-solve in real-time.
The intervention also empowered Anganwadi Workers and Supervisors to exercise their agency as they were encouraged to hold dialogues with Sarpanches and Gram Sachivs to garner support for the initiative. Shakuntla Kumari ji, a Supervisor of the Kharkhoda Circle, shared that she initially felt helpless due to her inability to raise her voice to the concerned authorities. Meetings held by the DLEC leadership boosted her confidence to present issues and raise requests at a Zila Parishad Development Works meeting post which various Sarpanches offered her support.
As for impact, 5 Model Playway Schools have been developed in Sonipat. Between June 2023 and February 2024, a 33% increase in electricity connections, a 27% increase in RO installations, a 23% increase in kitchen availability, a 34% increase in toilet availability and a 3% increase in BaLA paintings have been reported in Sonipat. Several more upgrade works are in the pipeline, and Sonipat is keen to drive this endeavour and competitively achieve this goal.
The Kurar Anganwadi Centre in Block Ganaur now has access to clean drinking water through the RO, functional electricity connection, and child-friendly toilet facilities. Further, attractive and child-friendly BaLA Paintings (Building as Learning Aids) adorn the walls, drawing the attention of children as they learn the alphabet and number counting through learning material painted on the walls, creating an immersive learning experience. Sushma ji expresses great satisfaction and it has visibly boosted overall morale.
With each step under the DLEC intervention, the collaborative spirit among stakeholders grew stronger, reinforcing the notion that true progress is born out of collective action and shared responsibility. Viewing this translate to progress on the ground is both humbling and deeply satisfying. Similar endeavours have been taken up in all 22 districts of Haryana through the DLEC intervention with a common goal of implementing the Playway Schools programme of the Hon’ble Chief Minister in both letter and spirit.