BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a Rs 1,000 increase in the wages of anganwadi workers on Monday following a meeting with them.
Hundreds of workers, a few of them along with their children, had protested for nearly a week at Freedom Park here in March, with a charter of demands including the wage hike.
At the meeting on Monday, an agreement was reached to increase the salaries of anganwadi workers to Rs 8,000 and helpers to Rs 4,000, reflecting an increase of `500 per month.
This amounts to a Rs 2,000 increase this year as the government had announced a Rs 1,000 increase in salaries during the budget. In addition, workers at mini anganwadis will now be eligible for a salary of Rs 4,750, which is an increase of Rs 500.
According to vice-president of the Anganwadi Association Sunanda, the government has also agreed to form a high-powered committee to look into the formation service rules for the anganwadi workers.
“This is not completely in line with the increase we had sought, but we also understand that the state’s contribution has increased since the Centre has reduced its share of contributions.The anganwadi workers are also contemplating pushing an increase in salaries with the Union government representatives,” she said.