NEW DELHI: Around 1,000 anganwadi workers were issued a show-cause notice by the Women and Child Department (WCD) against their ongoing protest, demanding a hike in the honorarium given to them.
The agitation brought the work of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme to a halt. On Saturday, 27 Anganwadi workers were terminated from their job for taking part in the strike outside Vikas Bhawan at Civil Lines.
Furious at the government’s decision of terminating the workers and the alleged statements made by the WCD Deputy Director, Navalendra Singh, the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union are planning to conduct a rally at the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday.
A day before, the protesters sat on a hunger strike in front of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, demanding action against Singh. Due to the ongoing strike, the vaccination of children, polio campaign, and nutrition schemes for women have been majorly impacted.
According to a senior official, the polio campaign was affected in February as the workers and helpers did not participate in the campaign.
“I am talking about malnourished children and pregnant women who have been impacted due to the agitating angandwadi workers. The pregnant women and lactating mothers are provided with dry ration every 15 days, but due to the strike, they are not receiving anything for the past one month,” the official said.
The government earlier said that it will increase its pay in response to the strike. WCD minister Rajendra Pal Gautam announced that the pay will be increased from Rs 9,678 for workers and Rs 4,839 for helpers monthly to Rs 12,720 and Rs 6,810 respectively from March 1. However, the workers complaint that the increment provided to them is not as per their demand.