Anganwadi workers head to Raj Bhavan

MANGALURU: Karnataka State Anganwadi Workers Association (CITU) state president S Varalakshmi said that nearly 30,000 anganwadi workers and helpers from the state will participate in the 'Raj Bhavan Chalo' protest to be held on February 20. On the sixth day of the strike taken out by anganwadi workers and helpers, Varalakshmi told reporters here on Saturday that their protest is aimed at empowerment of anganwadi workers. "The government has increased the minimum hours of work for anganwadi workers from 4 hours to 6.5 hours, but their salary remained at Rs 5,500 for workers and Rs 2,750 for helpers. Nearly 55,000 out of 61,000 anganwadis in 27 districts across the state are closed due to the protest. However, the government has not taken initiatives to fulfill our demands," she said, pointing out that anganwadi workers should get at least Rs 10,000 per month. The state government will have to spend Rs 492 crore a year for anganwadi staff if payment was increased to Rs 10,000 per year, she said. She added that the move will help more than 1.25 lakh families in the state. Varalakshmi said that the association will not allow the government to privatize anganwadis. "The state cabinet should oppose the central government's move and reject the proposal of handing over Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) projects to NGOs," she said. GP workers protest Udupi ZP chief planning officer Vijay Kumar Shetty accepted an appeal letter from CITU leader Balakrishna Shetty, Narayan Beejady, president of Udupi district unit of Karnataka Rajya Gram Panchayat Naukarara Sangha (affiliated to CITU) and K Ramesh Naik, general secretary, of Udupi district unit of Karnataka Rajya Gram Panchayat Naukarara Sangha in front of the Udupi zilla panchayat office, Rajathadri, Manipal, on Saturday. Members demanded that all gram panchayat workers should be paid service benefits like employee provident fund, and they should be offered a minimum pay of Rs 15,000 per month and their salary should be hiked as per their basic salary. -TOI