BIKANER, Oct. 28 -- Rajasthan has asked colleges to adopt anganwadi centres as part of a state effort to strengthen early childhood care, against the backdrop of gaps in basic facilities across the network. The state's 2026-27 annual programme implementation plan identifies as many as 26,109 centres needing tap-water connections and 15,218 without toilets, out of 62,196 centres. In an October 23 order, the College Education Department asked colleges to adopt at least five Anganwadi centres. The move follows a May 6 letter from Women and Child Development secretary- Punam, to the Higher Education Department, proposing that public and private universities and colleges adopt five to six nearby centres each. The proposal envisaged involving students in fieldwork, internships, dissertations and community outreach. The department offered to help institutions identify and map centres. The state's annual programme implementation plan (APIP) for 2026-27 under Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 proposes Rs.2,286.21 crore for Anganwadi services, supplementary nutrition and infrastructure and the State Empowered Programme Committee under Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 approved the plan at a meeting chaired by chief secretary V Srinivas at the state secretariat on April 30. It directed departments to prepare action plans specifying activities, timelines and responsible officers, with regular monitoring and reviews at state and district levels. The infrastructure plan assigns the Public Health Engineering Department the task of coordinating tap-water connections for 26,109 centres. The Panchayati Raj department, through the Swachh Bharat Mission, is to address the lack of toilets at 15,218 centres. Electricity connections are proposed for 13 centres without power. For 2026-27, the capital-assets component sets targets to provide drinking water at 10,000 centres for Rs.17 crore and build toilets at 5,000 centres for Rs.18 crore. It also proposes 3,090 new Anganwadi buildings through convergence with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, at a cost of Rs.61.80 crore, and upgrades at 8,000 centres as Saksham Anganwadis for Rs.80 crore. The document sets out these targets but does not establish how many works have been completed. Earlier commitments listed separately in the plan include furniture for 62,196 centres, drinking-water facilities for 9,519 and toilets for 2,556. They also include buildings for 1,008 centres under MGNREGA, 41 under PM JANMAN and 135 under DAJGUA. Of the total proposed requirement, Rs.954.64 crore is for Anganwadi services, Rs.873.33 crore for the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and Rs.458.24 crore for capital assets. The supplementary nutrition table also lists Rs.8.37 crore for adolescent girls. The nutrition component lists 34,41,731 beneficiaries as of December 31, 2025. These include 15,87,139 children aged six months to three years, 11,72,301 children aged three to six years, 26,507 severely acutely malnourished children, 83,388 severely underweight children, 5,72,396 pregnant and lactating women and 29,367 adolescent girls. The plan provides for 300 days of supplementary nutrition, with a daily norm of Rs.8 for children in both age groups below six years, Rs.12 for severely acutely malnourished and severely underweight children, and Rs.9.50 for pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls. The plan calls for Anganwadi centres within 500 metres of schools in urban areas and one kilometre in rural areas to be located on school premises wherever feasible. Where this is not possible, centres are to be mapped to the nearest government school. The School Education Department has been asked to facilitate one or two rooms in school buildings, arrange exposure visits and support children's transition to Class 1. Other proposed measures include developing Poshan Vatikas near centres, using self-help groups and rural networks for awareness campaigns, promoting pregnancy care and breastfeeding, and training selected Champion Anganwadi Workers. Departments are also expected to inspect supplementary food supplies and act on complaints about substandard food. The plan calls for greater involvement of fathers, replication of practices from high-performing centres, and monthly reviews and improvement plans for low-performing districts....