Anganwadi workers and helpers, who have been protesting for the past 10 days demanding higher wages, on Wednesday said that they were disappointed that no one from the government has reached out to them.
The workers under the banner of Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers’ Union are on an indefinite strike near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in north Delhi.
“We have been protesting outside the Chief Minister’s house for the past 10 days and no Minister or official has reached out to us yet. This is very disappointing. But we expected it when we started the protest as this had happened in the past too,” said Shivani Kaul, State president of the union.
The honorarium for anganwadi workers in Delhi was last increased in August 2017 after 58 days of strike and the present honorarium of anganwadi workers and helpers in Delhi are ₹9,678 and ₹4,839 respectively, as per the union.
Ms. Kaul said that in 2017 they had protested outside Chief Minister’s residence and the government did not reach out to them for weeks. When asked about why the government is not meeting the protesting workers, the Delhi government spokesperson did not offer a comment.
Anganwadi workers from Delhi are running a ‘boycott campaign’ in election-bound Goa, the union said. “Two teams of 15 members each are protesting in Goa and one team of 35 workers from Delhi will reach Punjab tonight. In Goa, we are protesting in public spaces and anganwadi centres, exposing both the AAP and the BJP,” Ms. Kaul said.
As per the union, on September 7, 2021, they had met the Women and Child Development Minister of Delhi and they were assured that their demands would be addressed within a week, but nothing happened after it.
