Anganwari workers’ move to gherao Assembly thwarted
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 5
Hundreds of anganwari workers and helpers today thronged the state capital in a bid to gherao the State Assembly to press for their demands, but their move was thwarted by the police.
Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala and Congress Legislative Party leader Kiran Choudhry visited the agitating anganwari workers at their protest site and expressed solidarity with their demands.
Both Chautala and Choudhry also raised the issue in the state Assembly today, while Congress MLA from Palwal Karan Singh Dalal, who said he had moved a calling attention motion on the issue, sought to know its status from the Speaker.
The Speaker, Kanwar Pal, told Dalal that his motion was under his consideration and he would take a decision on it by tomorrow.
On the call given by the Anganwari Workers’ and Helpers Union, the women workers started assembling near Sector 17 bus stand since this early morning, but the police forced them to move to rally ground in Sector 25.
Squatted on the road, the anganwari workers continued singing ‘Raginis’ and ‘Haryanvi’ songs throughout the day and raised slogans against the BJP government intermittently.
A deputation of five anganwari workers met the Women and Child Development Minister, Kavita Jain, at her residence on her invitation, but they could not get any firm assurance from the minister.
“The minister told us that she alone was not in a position to take any decision on our demands. She assured us that she would discuss the matter with the Chief Minister tonight and let us know the outcome by tomorrow. Though, I have asked the workers to return home, but they are not willing to leave till their demands are met,” said Jagmati Malik, general secretary of the union.
Malik said their union was firm on their demands i.e. the status of a government employee to the anganwari workers and payment of minimum salary of Rs 18,000 per month as being paid to government employees in the state.
She alleged that the government had unsuccessfully tried to torpedo their agitation by signing an agreement with little-known associations of anganwari workers, but she said, the offer given by the government in that agreement was not acceptable to them.
On March 1, the state government had clinched a deal with two unions of the anganwari workers and had agreed upon giving wages of skilled worker i.e. Rs 11,429 to anganwari workers, that of semi-skilled workers (Rs 10,286) to mini-anganwari workers and Rs 5,715 to anganwari helpers.
However, the union led by Malik who was not invited for March 1 talks, had announced to gherao the state Assembly today, while the one backed by the CITU walked out of talks against the “rigid’ attitude of the government and also announced to protest in Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s home constituency in Karnal today.
The anganwari workers have been holding protest for their demands since February 12.
