Anganwadi workers lay siege in B’luru demanding pay hike
BENGALURU: A protest by Anganwadi workers in Karnataka, who have been demanding a raise in their pay, entered the fourth day on Thursday as they continued to stage a sit-in in the state capital Bengaluru.
Around 10,000 Anganwadi workers, teachers and helpers, have been camping outside the Freedom Park in the city for the past three days.
The workers are demanding that the honorarium paid to Anganwadi teachers be increased from ₹6,000 to ₹10,000 a month and for helpers from ₹3,000 to ₹7,500 a month.
The workers are also demanding regularisation of their employment. Anganwadi workers are considered social workers and not permanent employees of the government. Union women and child development minister Maneka in May 2016 had ruled out increasing the honorariums, saying it was “part-time” work.
“We are willing to camp here no matter how long it takes for the government to increase our wages,” a worker Manjula said.
The protest has caught an unprepared state government off-guard. The initial response, Varalakshmi -one of the leaders of the protest- said, was to deny the women space at the Freedom Park to protest. Undeterred by this, the protesters squatted along the road daring the government to take action against them.
Speaking in the legislative assembly, CM Siddaramaiah blamed the BJP-led central government for the current impasse. He said under the UPA government the Centre’s share of funds for running the ICDS scheme was 90%, which had been reduced to 60% under the current regime.
However, Jyoti, another Anganwadi worker, refused to buy the CM’s words. “If this is true then Telangana, Goa and Kerala governments should also not have been able to increase the honorarium paid to workers in their states,” she said.
Jyoti warned the government that delaying the increase will only swell the ranks of the protesters. “We are prepared to sit here for 15-20 days.”