{"id":31355,"date":"2026-10-02T03:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=31355"},"modified":"2026-10-02T03:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:50:13","slug":"this-female-district-magistrate-put-her-kids-in-an-anganwadi-school-i-chose-it-because","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=31355","title":{"rendered":"This female district magistrate put her kids in an anganwadi school: \u201cI chose it because\u2026\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134630836,imgsize-968795,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned-three.jpg\" alt=\"This female district magistrate put her kids in an anganwadi school: \u201cI chose it because\u2026\u201d\" title=\"Nandurbar Collector Mittali Sethi enrolled her twin sons in a government anganwadi when they turned three.\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Nandurbar Collector Mittali Sethi enrolled her twin sons in a government anganwadi when they turned three.\">Nandurbar Collector Mittali Sethi enrolled her twin sons in a government anganwadi when they turned three.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When an IAS officer chooses a school for her children, the decision can easily become a subject of public discussion. For Mittali Sethi, however, the choice was less about making a statement and more about something she had seen closely at a local government anganwadi.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Sethi, the Nandurbar district collector, enrolled her twin boys in a government anganwadi when they turned three. Speaking about the decision at an event, she told CNBC-TV18 that she did not make the choice because she wanted to make a larger argument about government institutions. She simply liked the anganwadi and trusted the people working there.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>\u201cI put them in the envelope because I like the anganwadi. I mean, I, I feel like it&#8217;s, there&#8217;s no more simple answer to this,\u201d Sethi said. <!-- -->She said she took her children there on their third birthday, just as another mother in the village might have done.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>\u201cI took them on their birthday when they turned 3 to the anganwadi because that&#8217;s what any other mother was doing in that village. It was close to my house. I loved the anganwadi.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sethi said she chose a government anganwadi for her twins because she trusted its workers.\" msid=\"134630845\" imgsize=\"1192761\" resizemode=\"4\" width=\"\" title=\"Sethi said she chose a government anganwadi for her twins because she trusted its workers.\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-1192761,msid-134630845\/sethi-said-she-chose-a-government-anganwadi-for-her-twins-because-she-trusted-its-workers.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sethi said she chose a government anganwadi for her twins because she trusted its workers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>One anganwadi worker changed how she looked at the place<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Sethi recalled an incident that, she said, strengthened her belief that the anganwadi was the kind of environment she wanted for her children.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Before her twins joined, she had noticed children becoming uncomfortable during weighing exercises. The anganwadi had a traditional <span class=\"em\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">jholi<\/span> used to weigh children, but the children would often cry while being placed in it.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>Then an anganwadi worker came up with a different solution.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>According to Sethi, the worker worked with a local tailor to create another <span class=\"em\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">jholi<\/span> that would make the children more comfortable. When a child was placed in it, the child did not cry.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>\u201cAnd I was like, what? Amazing. Like I told you, like, you know, they are amazing. With Dugard, she just took out a local tailor. She said, I don&#8217;t want your tender and all that. I&#8217;ll do it myself. And she did that and and I felt like, you know, isn&#8217;t this what I want my children to learn? She is who I want my children to learn from.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/>For Sethi, that small intervention mattered. It showed her that the learning environment was not only about what was formally taught to children but also about how the adults around them responded to their needs.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"33\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>Her family was initially sceptical<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>The decision was not immediately understood by everyone around her. Sethi said her parents and in-laws were initially unsure about the choice.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>\u201cOf course my parents, my in laws were a little skeptical and they said what are you trying to do? I&#8217;m just very stubborn. So I did not listen to them,\u201d she said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>Her twins have since continued at the anganwadi. They are four now.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"40\"\/>But Sethi admitted that even she has occasionally wondered whether she was making the right choice.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"43\"\/>\u201cIt&#8217;s been a year now. They just celebrated their 4th birthday. And there have been moments, you know, where I have the mother in me has had that question that am I doing the right thing?\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>She said people sometimes asked whether her children were learning enough, particularly because their everyday experience at the anganwadi could look different from what parents might expect from a conventional preschool.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"47\"\/>\u201cBecause people are like, you should, you know, teach them. <!-- -->They&#8217;re not learning this because every day they go to the angry, they learned a new song. And I&#8217;m like, is this normal? Because I mean, it&#8217;s my first time being a mother. I don&#8217;t know.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"51\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The IAS officer said her decision was based on her own experience of the anganwadi and its workers.&lt;br&gt;\" msid=\"134630850\" imgsize=\"1200820\" resizemode=\"4\" width=\"\" title=\"The IAS officer said her decision was based on her own experience of the anganwadi and its workers.\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-1200820,msid-134630850\/the-ias-officer-said-her-decision-was-based-on-her-own-experience-of-the-anganwadi-and-its-workers-br.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The IAS officer said her decision was based on her own experience of the anganwadi and its workers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"53\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>\u2018She&#8217;s my friend\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>One of the moments that stayed with Sethi involved something as ordinary as a child playing with an animal.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"57\"\/>\u201cI went to the anganwadi one day my child was playing with the sheep and I said, what are you doing? And she said, she&#8217;s my friend.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"59\"\/>Her response was simple: \u201cAnd I said, OK.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"62\"\/>For Sethi, however, the moment reinforced something she had already begun to feel about the place.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"64\"\/>\u201cI didn&#8217;t, I, But then, you know, the intuition in me tells me that this is right.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"66\"\/>Sethi&#8217;s account, however, was not presented as an argument that every parent should make the same choice. Her reasoning, she said, ultimately came down to what she had seen at the centre &#8211; and the people who worked there.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"68\"\/>For an IAS officer overseeing a district, choosing a government anganwadi for her own children inevitably drew attention. But in her account, the decision began with something much more personal: she visited the centre, observed how the workers treated children, liked what she saw and decided that it was where she wanted her twins to spend their early years.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/life-style\/people\/this-female-district-magistrate-put-her-kids-in-an-anganwadi-school-i-chose-it-because\/articleshow\/134630817.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nandurbar Collector Mittali Sethi enrolled her twin sons in a government anganwadi when they turned three. When an IAS officer chooses a school for her children, the decision can easily become a subject of public discussion. For Mittali Sethi, however, the choice was less about making a statement and more about something she had seen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned-150x150.avif","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned-300x169.avif","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Nandurbar Collector Mittali Sethi enrolled her twin sons in a government anganwadi when they turned three. When an IAS officer chooses a school for her children, the decision can easily become a subject of public discussion. For Mittali Sethi, however, the choice was less about making a statement and more about something she had seen [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":5,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned.avif",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned-300x169.avif",300,169,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nandurbar-collector-mittali-sethi-enrolled-her-twin-sons-in-a-government-anganwadi-when-they-turned-150x150.avif",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}