Anganwadi workers and helpers staged a massive protest near Gill Road on Monday, over extremely low wages and stagnant Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) budget.
Workers highlighted the extremely low honorarium they receive which is ₹4,500 per month for anganwadi workers and ₹2,250 for helpers, that have not been raised since 2018 despite steep inflation. They pointed out that the Centre has not implemented the Supreme Court’s 2022 order mandating gratuity payments to anganwadi workers, nor the Gujarat High Court’s directive for regularisation.
They also expressed fury over what they called the Centre’s “unnecessary conditions” like the facial recognition system (FRS), slashing of beneficiary lists and failure to raise the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) budget for the past five years. The protesting workers asserted that these measures are pushing the country’s largest child nutrition programme into a deep crisis at a time when malnutrition indicators remain alarming.
The protest, organised under the banner of the Anganwadi Mulazam Union Punjab (CITU) and led by state president Harjeet Kaur Panjola, highlighted the workers’ frustration over the Centre’s indifference. “Despite assurances from Union minister of state Ravneet Singh Bittu during a sit-in on November 18 last year including a promise to arrange a meeting with the central minister, our demands remain unaddressed even after a year,” union said.
Union leaders alleged that the introduction of FRS has become a tool to reduce the number of beneficiaries receiving nutrition and related services. State general secretary Subhash Rani said that while the Centre promotes slogans of a “Malnutrition-Free India,” the stagnant budget and digital burdens are shrinking access to food and care for lakhs of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers who depend on anganwadi services.
{{/usCountry}}Union leaders alleged that the introduction of FRS has become a tool to reduce the number of beneficiaries receiving nutrition and related services. State general secretary Subhash Rani said that while the Centre promotes slogans of a “Malnutrition-Free India,” the stagnant budget and digital burdens are shrinking access to food and care for lakhs of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers who depend on anganwadi services.
{{/usCountry}}Their key demands include an immediate increase in the ICDS budget, regularisation of workers and helpers as government employees, implementation of gratuity, improved infrastructure at centres, proper early childhood education in anganwadis, and the removal of burdens like FRS and app-based reporting.
The union also submitted a detailed memorandum urging minister Bittu to raise their concerns with the Union finance minister during the upcoming Budget 2026–27 discussions. Leaders warned that if the Centre continues to neglect ICDS, the impact on child nutrition and frontline workers will be severe. They said their struggle to protect the scheme and workers’ rights will intensify in the coming weeks.