Hundreds of anganwadi workers launch protest to seek fair wages, benefits, govt employee tag
New Delhi: Hundreds of Anganwadi workers of Delhi on Monday launched a protest outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Civil Lines here - seeking regularisation of their employment, fair wages and employment benefits such as healthcare as promised to them by the Delhi government and the Union government.
The indefinite protest which is being spearheaded by the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union pitched a chorus of slogans like "Sun le re behri sarkar nahi karenge bekar main kaam", "Hum apne adhikar mangte, nahi kisise bheek maangte" and "Inqalaab zindabad" among many more.
The union has said that their current honorarium was last increased in 2017 and after that, the Delhi government had issued a notification further reducing this amount by Rs 900 and Rs 450 respectively for anganwadi workers and helpers.
Several other workers' unions, including the DTC workers' union here joined the anganwadi workers in their protest. The frontline workers have said that this stir will be indefinite and that they will protest every day till their demands are met.
Sunita Vinod from Delhi's Babarpur Anganwadi centre, said, "The list of our suffering is big, starting from a very thin and ill-timed salary, no medical aid, no holidays, not being recognized as full-time government employees and no proper implementation of the widow pension scheme. We are made to conduct surveys, vaccination drives and also look after animals. The administration hasn't even paid our dues for the months of December and January. We want the salary of Anganwadi workers to be raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 and our assistants should be paid Rs 20,000 per month."
The president of Delhi Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union Shivani Kaur said, "Yesterday, the Joint Director of Women and Child Care & Social Welfare Dr Navlendra Kumar Singh had sent us a message on WhatsApp threatening mass termination for our anganwadi sisters if they participated in this indefinite protest. Today, we have a turnout of around 1,000 to 1,200 workers and helpers but there have been reports that many of our anganwadi sisters were held back by their supervisors and intimidated with termination."
"So from tomorrow our picketing team will visit those centres and help our sisters join the protest," she added.
She said, "We have also asked the Delhi police to set up water tankers and mobile toilets but they didn't seem to show much interest but I can guarantee you that we won't move an inch before our demands are met. We have been asked to talk with the CM's personal assistant but we will only engage in a conversation with the Cheif Minister or with the PM's office."
