It is absolutely unacceptable that 51 anganwadis in Ernakulam are operating without their mandatory fitness certificates months after the academic year started. The authorities are brushing this off as a mere "administrative delay" due to the transfer of assistant engineers, but we are talking about the safety of toddlers! Just recently, a live cobra was found hiding inside an anganwadi almirah in Karumaloor because of a broken window and surrounding overgrown paddy fields. How is this not a crisis? To make matters worse, nearly 600 anganwadis in the district don't even have their own buildings. Because the government enforces a uniform rent cap for both rural areas and expensive urban centers like Kochi, they are forced to operate out of cheap, dilapidated rented spaces that come with severe infrastructural hazards. We cannot compromise on early childhood spaces. Fix the uniform rent policy, hire the required engineers, and secure these buildings before a tragedy strikes! #education #safety #politics