Established under the central government's Integrated Child Development Services scheme, rural and urban anganwadis have been at the heart of India's efforts to tackle child malnutrition for the past 45 years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, anganwadi centres are closed, but the critical duties of the anganwadi workers continue, as they are instrumental in ensuring the rural poor get food, medicines, education and sanitation, even during the pandemic.