Anganwadi workers to shift their protest to B'luru

Stree shakthi sanghas to distribute food to pregnant women

Unfazed by the nonchalance of the district administration to their indefinite stir, Anganwadi workers have decided to shift their protest to the State capital Bengaluru.

Disclosing this to Deccan Herald, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Organising Secretary Y Mahadevamma said that the Anganwadi workers and assistants will be leaving for Bengaluru on Wednesday night by train, to continue with their protest from the following day, Thursday.

Mahadevamma said that they had decided to intensify their protest from Bengaluru, following a call from the AITUC President H K Ramachandrappa, General Secretary Shivanna among other leaders, to drop the ongoing protest at the district level.

The Anganwadi workers and their assistants who have been staging protests for the last nine days starting from February 2 near the Deputy Commissioner’s office here, have decided not to budge till the demands are met.

Hundreds of workers drawn from Mysuru, K R Nagar, H D Kote, Periyapatna, Nanjangud and T Narsipur taluks have been staging the sit-in demonstration pressing for the fulfilment of various demands.

Regularisation

The agitators have put forth 26 demands, including the regularisation of services under ‘C’ and ‘D’ group (for Anganwadi workers and assistants, respectively) of the State government, fixing the honorarium of Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000. They have demanded that the honorarium be increased by Rs 500 at every level considering the seniority. The Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) should not be privatised under ‘Mission Mode’ and simultaneous payment of honorarium both by the State and Central governments.

Deputy Director of Women and Child Development Radha said that owing to the ongoing protest, due to which the regular services are being hit, the department was thinking of utilising the services of local stree-shakti sanghas to distribute food to pregnant and lactating mothers, door to door. The proposed temporary measure has already been discussed, the official added.

On the agitating workers, the official said that the department had asked them to withdraw their protest and resume the duty. They will be issued in this regard, the official said.