Actor Sreenivasan has courted yet another controversy by making derogatory remarks about Anganwadi teachers in Kerala. Following this, the Kerala Women’s Commission has taken a case against Sreenivasan on the basis of a complaint given by Anganwadi teachers.
During an interview given to Kaumudi channel, the actor said that women without any education and those who do not get any other job are made Anganwadi teachers. “In Japan, teachers who know psychology and psychiatry teach kids of kintergarden and play school. Here, is it like that? Women with no education and who do not get any other jobs are made Anganwadi teachers. These kids grow amongst them, and can only grow to their standard,” the actor said.
Anganwadi teachers in Kerala have been lauded for the work they put in during the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed to contain the spread of the disease. From taking rations and raw materials for mid-day meals of children home, to conducting online classes, the teachers have been doing lots in the past few months.
They were the first in the country to take the initiative to deliver ingredients for mid-day meals to over three lakh children, during the lockdown.
There are 33,115 Anganwadi workers in the state and they have been recently trained to conduct virtual classes not just to children but also have sessions with expectant mothers. In a project helmed by the Women and Child Development Department in Kerala, called Koodeyundu Anganwadikal - Anganwadi workers have been involved in taking sessions for pregnant women, answering their doubts and concerns. The project which started in 2019 had to go online following the lockdown.
Actor Sreenivasan has often been known for courting controversies with his often insensitive remarks. Last year he claimed that there is no gender inequality in Malayalam cinema and therefore he couldn’t see the need for a collective like Women in Cinema.