Anganwadi workers demanding regularisation of jobs taken into custody at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada

Anganwadi workers protest in Vijayawada demanding regularisation of services, police take union leaders into custody.

Tension prevailed at Dharna Chowk on Wednesday, after Anganwadi workers tried to stage blockades outside residences of legislators demanding that the government address their issues.

Police mobilised forces at Dharna Chowk as the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) staff and sanitation workers, along with Anganwadi workers and helpers, launched protests seeking regularisation of their services among other demands.

The Anganwadi workers entered into a heated argument with the police when they tried to prevent them from staging the protest. The police reportedly took several union leaders and workers into preventive custody later.

With talks between the Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union and the State government failing to make any headway on Tuesday, the workers said that they would intensify their agitation in the coming days as there was no resolution of their issues even as their agitation entered the 17th day.

Leaders of the AP Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union and the staff surrounded the residences of MLAs and Ministers in various districts across the State.