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Anganwadi workers protest outside mini secretariat in Ludhiana
More than 2,900 anganwadi workers gathered on Wednesday at 10 in the morning, protesting against their unfulfilled demands
The members of Anganwadi Mulazim Union Punjab CITU protested outside the Mini Secretariat in Ludhiana, for more than 3 hours, blocking Ferozepur road, causing inconvenience to the commuters who were forced to use the service lane.
More than 2,900 anganwadi workers gathered on Wednesday at 10 in the morning, protesting against their unfulfilled demands. One of the commuters heading towards his workplace said, “At this time, almost everybody heads towards their workplace and these protests disturb our routines. A distance of 15 minutes turns into 45 to 50 minutes, causing inconvenience and chaos.”
During the protest, the union’s general secretary Bhinder Kaur informed that one of their demands is to provide pension along with gratuity to all the anganwadi, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and mid-day meal workers. “We must be given our rightful amount and should be treated the same way the government treats the rest of its employees,” she added.
The protestors also mentioned that the state government must cancel the rules formed aimed at implementing four labour codes and should reform three committees related to the labour department, along with ensuring their functioning. “If the government wants the role of the workers under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme intact, then it must consider our demands in the budget which is going to be presented on July 24 by the central government,” said president of the union Subhash Rani.
She also added that the demand letter from every district headquarter of the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers have been forwarded to the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and women and child development minister Annapurna Devi.
“In 2017, children between the age group of 3 to 6 were taken from the anganwadi centres and were admitted into the primary schools. Pre-primary education was provided at the anganwadi centres and we were told back then that it would start again but no action has been taken in this direction so far,” she added.
“We also met CM Mann in Jalandhar on July 5 to put forward our demands. In case the government would still not pay heed to our concerns, we would be organising such protests at a greater level,” said Subhash Rani.
