‘App requirements for over 1 lakh anganwadi workers idealistic than realistic’: Bombay HC seeks govt response

Advocate PG Gavhane, for state government, informed the court that except for the beneficiaries’ name, other information on the app is in Marathi and that over a lakh of cellphones are required, which will be made available after funding is started by the Centre and state government. Seeking affidavits from the centre and state governments, the bench posted the next hearing on February 8.

The petitioners complained the POSHAN tracker app was only available in English, and the HC in 2021 had noted that insistence on a fill in date in English was without logic or rationale. In July 2022, the HC directed the Centre to take steps to ensure regional language options are activated in the app.

Earlier this month, the bench directed the central government not to take any disciplinary punitive action be taken against any Anganwadi in the state, including withholding food grain distribution to the beneficiaries, until the court is shown that the app becomes ‘entirely bilingual’. The central government had submitted that it had released an updated app making it bilingual, however, the bench noted that there was no information about what platform it was available on and the same was ‘left to imagination’. The court asked the Centre to inform particulars of the same to Anganwadis so that they can switch to the same. On January 24, the bench, after noting there were complaints about hardware of the said cellphones supplied by the state, had asked the Maharashtra government to submit an affidavit in reply, on the technical aspects of hardware including specifications, recommended make, model, original equipment manufacturer; and whether the government was proposing to introduce a security layer to prevent the installation of other third party apps.

Seeking affidavits from the centre and state governments, the bench posted the next hearing on February 8.