ICDS services won’t be privatised, says Minister

Minister for Kannada and Culture Umashree addressing anganwadi workers who were staging a protest near the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi on Wednesday.

Minister for Women and Child Development Umashree on Wednesday gave a categorical assurance to anganwadi workers that services under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) would not be privatised.

Ms. Umashree, who rushed to the venue of a protest organised by the Karnataka State Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers near the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, said that private services were never utilised under ICDS in the State in the past and it would not be so in the future also.

The State government would never encourage privatisation of services under ICDS.

However, the Minister said that their other demands such as a rise in minimum wages to Rs. 18,000 per month till the government regularised their services, an assured monthly pension of Rs. 3,000, non-payment of retirement benefit of Rs. 50,000 to anganwadi workers and Rs. 20,000 to helpers since April this year and reducing the minimum age from 65 to 60 to become eligible for old age pension under the Sandhya Suraksha Scheme and related issues would be taken up with the Chief Minister soon.

The protest was organised jointly by the KSFAWH and AITUC. Over 5,000 anganwadi workers and helpers from all over the district and other parts of the State participated.

Revenue employees

Another protest was organised by the Karnataka State Revenue Department Village Assistants Association members of which took out a procession covering a distance of 10 km by walk from Belagavi to the site of the protest demanding regularisation of their services.

Association’s State president Muddukrishna said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had during the winter session in 2013 promised to regularise the services of village assistants as Group D employees but had failed to implement it so far.

Unaided institutions

Members of the Karnataka State Unaided Primary and High Schools Federation also staged a protest demanding grant-in-aid benefit to primary and high schools which came into existence in the period between 1987-88 and 1994-95.