Priyanka Gandhi slams Delhi govt over termination of Anganwadi workers

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday termed as "unjust" the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government's move to terminate over 800 Anganwadi workers for staging a strike seeking a raise in honorarium, and demanded that they should be immediately reinstated.

In a tweet, she called out the government for increasing the honorarium of its MLAs a few days ago as it sacked the grassroots child care workers for demanding a raise for themselves.

"...taking an unjust step, the government sacked more than 800 Anganwadi workers demanding a respectable honorarium. Asking for a good honorarium for hard work is not a crime," the Congress general secretary said in a tweet. These Anganwadi workers should be immediately reinstated, Gandhi demanded.

Around 884 Anganwadi workers in Delhi were abruptly terminated for staging over a month-long strike demanding a raise in honorarium and respectable working hours.

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These workers comprising several single mothers were issued termination notice on March 14 against their 39-day demonstration.

The workers have claimed that despite serving the public relentlessly during the pandemic-induced-lockdown they have not received their salary since January and are somehow running their households by borrowing money.

Anita, who received her termination notice on March 16, is a single mother. She has been running from pillar to post looking for work to ensure that her children's studies are not affected.

“I’ve been borrowing money from relatives, working as a part-time house help and somehow managing their school and tuition fees. When I joined Anganwadi in 2007, my salary was ₹750. I’ve worked extensively during the COVID lockdown, provided door-to-door ration, conducted vaccine campaigns but our salaries have been on hold since January, 2022. We did not even receive masks, sanitisers or any incentive in that regard from our department,” Anita said, adding, “We tried complaining but our supervisor threatened us saying we would be terminated.”

The Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union (DSAWHU) has claimed that in addition to the 884 Anganwadi workers who have been issued termination notices, 11,942 have been given show-cause notices by the Delhi government.