People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 36
September 08, 2013
|
Vol. XXXVII
No. 36 September 08, 2013 |
J&K
Anganwadi
Employees
Protest
In
Support
of Their Demands
ADDRESSING
a protest
demonstration of the anganwadi workers and helpers at
Hemalata said the ICDS has been
playing an important
role in reducing malnutrition, but the government’s apathetic
attitude has been
creating hurdles. “Besides privatisation of nursery schools
for pre-school
education, the government has decided to privatise 10% of the
ICDS projects by
handing them over to NGO’s and corporates. There is no
provision for increasing
the wages of anganwadi workers and helpers or providing them
with social
security benefits. But the mission says that the anganwadi
workers and helpers
should be retired at the age of 65 Years,” she said.
Hemalata observed that because of the
efforts of the CITU,
the Indian Labour Conference (45th Session) has discussed the
conditions of the
scheme workers including anganwadi workers and helpers, ASHA’s
etc as an agenda.
They should be recognised as workers, paid minimum wages and
social security
benefits, but the government is not ready to implement these
recommendations. The
All India Federation is fighting against this attitude of
government. A black
day was observed on July 10 and the Federation has decided to
continue the
struggle by holding conventions along with the beneficiary
organisations
involving the people at state and district level and also
through big mobilisations
all over the country. It has also decided to participate in
the joint trade union
programmes on September 25 and December 12, she said.
Jameela Sabiri, general secretary of
the JKAWHU,
Naseema Kuchay, president, JKAWHU, Spinder Kour,
treasurer and Kanta Devi,
anganwadi leader urged the government to immediately release
the arrears in
favour of the anganwadi workers and helpers under central and
state share,
besides ensuring time bound promotions in various cadre
positions of the social
welfare department. They said that anganwadi workers and
helpers, the grass
root workers of the ICDS scheme should be entitled to decent
living. Their
immediate demands included payment of gratuity, the
formulation of a pension
scheme to ensure that these women workers do not languish in
their old age,
immediate enhancement of their meager remuneration to the
consumer price index,
payment of minimum wages and withdrawal of attempts to
privatise ICDS. A
standing mechanism must be put in place in the ministry of
women and child development
for revision in the rates of honorarium of anganwadi workers
and
helpers. Anganwadi workers and helpers should be covered
by the EPF and
ESI Act for regularisation of their services as government
employees, besides that
the anganwadi centres must be made as nodal centers to impart
pre-school
education, they demanded.
Others who spoke on the occasion
included Abdul Rashid
Najar, joint secretary CITU, CITU leaders Sham Prasad Kesar
and Om Prakash
Sharma. They demanded
release of pay
dues to the newly appointed workers, conversion of the ICDS as
a separate
department and demanded provision of pensionary benefits to
the workers and
helpers.
The protestors were carrying banners,
placards and
shouting slogans demanding regularisation of their services as
Class III and
Class IV employees with immediate increase in their honorarium
to Rs 5000 and
Rs 4000 per month respectively. They were also demanding
release of training
grants in favour of the workers and helpers without any delay
and providing of
TA, DA for attending different meetings like pulse polio, Aids
Awareness
Programme etc.
The workers and helpers later marched
from SK Park to
Press enclave.
