Public Accounts Committee asks government to consider increasing the honorarium of Anganwadi workers

A parliamentary panel has asked the Union government to consider increasing the monthly honorarium of the Anganwadi workers to the extent it is comparable with the salary of the primary school teachers of the public-funded schools.

In its report to Parliament, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has also asked the government to consider increasing the honorarium of the Anganwadi helpers “accordingly”.

The current honorarium of the Anganwadi workers and helpers are “very low and unattractive,” the House Panel has observed, apparently finding it one of the reasons behind a number of posts of the Anganwadi workers and helpers still lying vacant in several States including Karnataka and Bihar.

“The Committee is of the considered opinion that the Anganwadi workers and helpers are not only shouldering the responsibility of taking care of the children but also shaping the nation's future. Accordingly, the remuneration should be comparable with that being given to the government teachers of primary schools,” the panel said.

The Women and Child Development ministry may revise and increase the honorarium of the Anganwadi workers and helpers “accordingly,” it recommended.

This comes days after Anganwadi workers and helpers held protests in different parts of the country including Karnataka demanding for an increase in their monthly honorarium.

The Anganwadi workers' honorarium is currently fixed at Rs 4500 per month while it is Rs 3,500 per month for those Anganwadi workers deployed at mini Anganwadi centres. The Anganwadi helpers' honorarium is fixed at Rs 2,250 per month.

Besides, the government has also made provisions for providing a performance-linked incentive of Rs 250 per month to the Anganwadi helpers. The Anganwadi workers are paid a performance-linked incentive of Rs 500 per month for using ICDS-CAS (CommonApplication Software) under the POSHAN Abhiyaan.

The Union government revised and increased the monthly honorarium of the Anganwadi workers and helpers in October 2018. Sixty per cent of the honorarium is paid by the Union government while the remaining 40% of that by the respective States.

While deposing before the House Panel, the Ministry stated that the government has taken step towards covering all Anganwadi workers and helpers under the various insurance scheme.

“We have got them two types of insurance schemes. One is insurance for life cover and the other is the accidental insurance scheme. The entire premium is being paid by the central government,” the ministry told the panel.