new delhi: As the Delhi government and the Union government refuse to engage with protesting anganwadi workers and helpers over their demands, who have now suspended work in protest for over a month, scores of impoverished families in the Capital have been running from pillar to post to find some alternate relief as the closure of Anganwadi centres has hit their supplies of dry rations, healthcare privileges, and nutrition for their toddlers — that used to be a major aid for these needy households.
Such is the case at Taimoor Nagar's Indira Gandhi Camp 2 where 22-year-old Nazia is always perturbed about her household's ration reservoir as she has to feed a family of seven.
She added, "Our family's monthly income hovers around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 which is too meagre when compared to today's expenses. And now, we have to buy rations from shops at a higher price which is costing us close to Rs 2,000. On top of that, we have to buy milk and Cerelac for my two-month-old son and two-year-old daughter. Earlier, anganwadis supplies acted as a huge help but now we often have to live with one or two meals a day."
Nazia said that she had got a job as a house maid a few weeks ago but she was fired when her employers found out she lived in the camp.
Millennium Post visited three Anganwadi centres in the area which have been shut for over a month, according to locals. While the Delhi government had marginally raised the pay of protesting workers, many demands were left unaddressed, because of which the stir continues.
Punam Khatri, the supervisor of a Khanpur anganwadi centre said, "We are receiving people from needy families on a daily basis who show up hoping that the centre has started functioning and now they would get some dry rations but they return disappointed."
She also highlighted that supervisors are desperately requesting the AWW and AWH to return to work. But as the protesting workers allege that the supervisors are using threats to pressure them, Punam denied these allegations.
27-year-old Amiran, another resident of the IG Camp, said, "We are always worried about our existence here but anganwadi workers and helpers always reached out to us with packets of lentils, chickpeas, dalia, etc which went a long way to sustain our families but all of a sudden it stopped and now we have no one who will help us."
Thousands of families rely on the anganwadi network for their dry rations and their children's nutritional needs. In areas like the IG camp, average family earnings are less than R 7,000 to Rs 8,000 but there are a lot of mouths to feed.
"We are finding it really difficult to cope with these challenges. I have to give my nine month toddler a typhoid conjugate vaccine. If I inoculated him from the Anganwadi it wouldn't cost me a penny but now I have to take it from a private dispensary which costs Rs 1,700. I don't know how long we can go on like this", Amiran said.