Hundreds of Anganwadi workers from Andhra Pradesh, who arrived in the city for the ‘Chalo Assembly’ programme scheduled for Tuesday, were arrested.
The workers and helpers gathered at RTC Crossroads, Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Baghlingampally, and AITUC office at Himayathnagar, and were preparing to reach Indira Park where a demonstration and meeting were scheduled to be held at 10.30 a.m.
However, before they could go in a rally at Dharna Chowk, police personnel swooped down at all the three locations and detained them, before moving them to various police stations and other locations.
General secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) M.A. Gafoor, who had already been detained the previous day, claimed that close to 3,000 agitators were picked up by the police.
Besides, many hundreds who attempted to reach the city had been apprehended in the districts on Monday, he said.
Those arrested on Tuesday, were reportedly kept confined at Goshamahal Stadium, Abids police station, and different locations in Falaknuma, Gandhi Nagar, Musheerabad, and Narayanguda.
MLC Geyanand, who tried to address the media near RTC Crossroads, was forcibly taken away along with the workers.
“I protested, but the police claimed the situation was volatile and I was not allowed to address the media. They picked up hundreds of workers, and handled them roughly even without provocation,” Mr. Geyanand alleged, after being released.
The Anganwadi workers were participating in the ‘Chalo Assembly’ programme, demanding a rise in their salaries, especially after the Telangana government had recently hiked the pay from Rs.4,200 to Rs.7,000 for workers/teachers, and from Rs.2450 to Rs.4,500 for helpers.
They were seeking similar rise by AP government too. Though the erstwhile united AP government had taken a decision to increase the wages by Rs.800 and Rs.500 respectively, the same has only remained on paper, Mr.Gafoor alleged.
