It has been a week since several anganwadi workers in Delhi have been protesting outside the Chief Minister’s residence. A similar sit-in protest can be seen outside Vikas Sadan in Gurugram for more than 60 days now.
Delhi’s Anganwadi workers have been on indefinite strike to demand wage hike. PTI
Several anganwadi workers in Delhi have been protesting outside the Chief Minister’s residence for a week now. A similar sit-in is underway outside Vikas Sadan in Gurugram for more than two months.
The Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union started began an indefinite strike from 31 January. In September, thousands of women workers organised demonstrations at Delhi Secretariat and submitted a memorandum before the Delhi and Centre government.
Let’s take a look at what has irked the anganwadi workers, what they do and why they are upset:
Who are anganwadi workers?
Anganwadi workers and helpers are part of the government’s Integrated Child Development Program, which was first started in 1975.
The prime employment objective of anganwadi workers is to look after primary healthcare, immunisation, meals, and preschool education of children under 6 years of age. They also look after primary healthcare, checkups and medical referrals of the mothers.
As part of the job, anganwadi workers also monitor children’s health based on a number of indicators including their height and weight. Providing nutritious ration to pregnant women and mothers is also part of their duty.
Anganwadi workers and helpers can also be deployed in election duty to help election staff with the process of voting. Anganwadi workers and helpers were also engaged in assisting healthcare staffers in Covid centres in villages, which led them to be declared frontline workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Why are they protesting?
– Anganwadi workers in Delhi and Haryana are striking for increased wages.
– Anganwadi workers and helpers in Delhi last received a hike in honorarium in August 2017.
– Workers in Delhi are currently receiving a monthly honorarium of Rs 9,768 and helpers receive Rs 4,839. The protest is to demand the honorarium to be increased to Rs 25,000 per month for workers and Rs 20,000 for helpers.
– The workers in Gurugram are receiving Rs 11,811 per month and helpers get Rs 6,045. They want it to be increased to Rs 24,000 and Rs 18,000, respectively.
– According to a report by Indian Express, the agitators said the honorarium is lower than the salary of contractual unskilled workers in Haryana. Contractual unskilled workers earn between Rs 14,330-17,520 per month.
– The workers and helpers are also demanding dearness allowance on the pattern of government employees.
What authorities say
– According to the Indian Express, Haryana has said that the honorarium for anganwadi workers and helpers is highest in North India, even though they are not government employees but workers engaged under the ICDS scheme.
– “Haryana is among the three states to give the highest honorarium to anganwadi workers. The Chief Minister has also announced Rs 1 lakh on their retirement and Rs 2 lakh in case of accidental death,” state Women and Child Development Minister Kamlesh Dhanda said as quoted by Indian Express.
– On 29 December, 2021, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced that the monthly honorarium will be increased and the arrears for two years (2019-20 and 2020-21), along with an incentive of Rs 1,000 each, will be given to all anganwadi workers.
– He had added that anganwadi workers will be covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the future.
– In Delhi, the government’s Women and Child Development minister Rajendra Pal Gautam met the workers on 7 September, 2021. According to The Hindu, they were assured that their demands would be addressed within a week, however, he never got back to the protesters.
With inputs from agencies
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