Braving heavy rain, thousands of Anganwadi workers protested outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence at Civil Lines on Monday demanding a pay hike.
Accusing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of inaction and making ‘false promises’, Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers’ Union president Shivani Kaul, said: “We have been protesting for weeks, but no official has come to meet us. Recently, there were a few reports stating that we have reached an agreement with the government. I want to clarify that we have reached no agreement and our struggle is still on.”
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‘CM accepted demands’
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“In July 2015, Mr. Kejriwal gave us a signed agreement wherein he accepted all our demands, including an increase in pay of workers and helpers, regular and timely payment, identity cards for workers, and so on. However, none of the promises have been fulfilled,” said Ms. Kaul.
In a demand charter released by the union, members have asked for a hike in pay of workers from ₹5,000 to ₹16,182 per month and for helpers from ₹2,500 to ₹14,698 per month, which is in accordance with the government’s minimum wages.
Zaheera, an anganwadi worker, said that most of them take up the job despite the low wages as they do not have an alternative.
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‘Will continue protest’
“With the pay we get now, we cannot even afford basic nutritional food for our families. Most of us come from homes where there is a wife-beating husband or one is under pressure from the landlord to pay rent,” she said.
“Everyday we are being threatened with termination of our jobs if we do not resume work. But we have made up our minds to continue the agitation till our demands are met,” said another Anganwadi worker on condition of anonymity.
Ms. Kaul also alleged that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia “illegally fired three anganwadi workers and helpers during an inspection of a centre”.