The Anganwadi workers have been protesting since January 31 in New Delhi. They said they will not stop until their demands are met.
Suchitra | TwoCircles.net
NEW DELHI — Hundreds of Anganwadi workers have been protesting for over two weeks outside the residence of New Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal.
The Delhi union demanded an increase in their honorarium as well as official recognition as government workers. The workers claim that they are not being paid minimum wages.
Protesters in Civil Lines in Delhi said that they wanted to make the Kejriwal government accountable for the promises the AAP made to them. The workers are demanding that their prior arrears be paid immediately, as well as a raise of Rs 25,000 in pay.
The Delhi State Anganwadi Workers & Helpers Union (DSAWHU) organised a press conference on February 9 to expose the “betrayal of the Kejriwal government.”
Shivani Kaul, president of DSAWHU, said at the event, “While Kejriwal and AAP promise to increase the honorarium of scheme employees in Goa and Punjab, they refuse to even engage with Anganwadi caregivers who sit 500 metres away from the CM’s house.”
Anganwadi employees and assistants are employed by the government’s Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to oversee the education and health of children aged zero to six , primarily in rural regions. They keep track of their health markers and provide pregnant women and lactating mothers with nutritional rations.
In addition, they aid election personnel during the voting process. They were designated as frontline workers for their activities during the Covid-19 epidemic, which not only included providing food but also ensuring vaccination.
However, most Anganwadi workers claim that this was a “gimmick with no real benefits.”
Anganwadi workers and assistants had also held rallies in approximately 22 districts of Haryana in December and January, seeking greater compensation and recognition as government employees.
According to the Haryana union representatives, the Haryana government provides Rs 11, 811 to Anganwadi employees and Rs 6,045 to assistants as a monthly stipend in addition to the Centre’s portion. The protesters argue that this honorarium is meager and insufficient, even lower than the wage of contractual unskilled employees (Rs 14,330-17,520), as recently declared by the state administration. The strike has been called to demand the actual implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s September 2018 promise to enhance the monthly honorarium for Anganwadi staff by Rs 1,500 and Anganwadi assistants by Rs 700. Protesters are also demanding for DA (dearness allowance) to be paid regularly to anganwadis, which they said are “regularly paid to government employees.”
Shakuntala, general secretary of the Haryana Anganwadi Employees and Helpers Union, told TwoCircles.net, “Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Telangana pay greater honoraria to Anganwadi workers than Haryana.” Puducherry has even proclaimed Anganwadi staff to be government workers.”
Anganwadi employees in Delhi currently earn roughly Rs 9,600 per month, while assistants get around Rs 4,800. They are requesting raises of Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively. In 2017, a similar 58-day strike was held.
Shivani Kaul stated during the press conference that the “primary demand” is to obtain employee status.
“Many of us have worked for over 10 years,” she explained. “However, we are still classified as volunteers, depriving us of so many important employee benefits like insurance, ESIC, and others.”
Lali, a protester at the site, said that she has not been promoted in the last ten years of her work. “Our pay is too low for us to purchase nice clothes,” she explained. She also emphasized the job that Anganwadi workers did throughout the epidemic, even though there was no healthcare infrastructure to safeguard them.
“We were not even given basic protective gear in the middle of a raging pandemic, no masks, no PPEs, no sanitisers, or other essential amenities throughout this pandemic,” she claimed. “How can we expect this government to give us adequate healthcare services now?”
According to them, the Delhi administration is also working to stifle the movement.
Vimla, an Anganwadi caregiver, said that the Kejriwal government was employing tactics to suppress the protests. “At the start of the strike, the department even sent us threats via text messages and audio snippets in an attempt to persuade us not to strike. Now, even DTC buses are not being halted for female employees to irritate Anganwadi staff who are going to and from the protest venue.”
According to Kamlesh, another member of the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union, the workers have been protesting since January 31 and will not stop until their demands are met. Thousands of protestors were present on the first day of the rally. They said that the agitation will continue until the government accepts their demands.
Suchitra is an independent journalist working on social justice, focusing primarily on gender justice. She tweets at @Suchitrawrites