An Anganwadi centre in Nuagaon village under Ghadiamal gram panchayat in Rajnagar block of Odisha’s Kendrapara district has remained non-functional for nearly three months after villagers allegedly stopped sending their children following the appointment of a Dalit woman as helper-cum-cook.
The villagers also skipped a meeting convened by the Kendrapara district administration on Wednesday to amicably resolve the crisis.
Sharmistha Sethy, a 20-year-old graduate appointed on November 20, 2025, claimed that the boycott began soon after she took charge.
According to her, families have not only withdrawn their children from the centre but are also refusing to collect free food items, including sattu (roasted gram flour) and eggs meant for the children.
Sharmistha Sethy alleged that the resistance was rooted in caste prejudice, according to the Hindu.
She said her family is very poor and that she secured the job only after considerable hardship.
Aspiring to become a teacher, she added that her repeated appeals to the villagers went unheard. According to her, families stopped sending their children because she is a Dalit, and she remarked that while society has progressed in many ways, clinging to casteism would only hinder further development.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.