Delhi’s Anganwadi workers to boycott BJP, AAP and Congress in LS 2024 for not meeting demands

Delhi Anganwadi workers boycott major political parties, demand permanent employee status and minimum wage increase.

Workers associated with the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union (DSWAHU) have pledged to boycott the BJP, AAP, and Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha election for not fulfilling their demands. The workers have been asking for a permanent employee status, a guarantee of minimum wage and the immediate reinstatement of those whose jobs were terminated for participating in a strike in 2022. 

For most Anganwadi workers, sustaining themselves with their stagnant wages in the time of inflation has become difficult. Geeta Negi, 45, an Anganwadi in Delhi’s Khajuri Khaas, said that while workload has increased over the years, their salaries have not increased as per the inflation rates. She walks for 45 minutes every day to reach her Anganwadi centre, lets children in, checks their vitals, and spreads awareness in the neighbourhood while logging in every activity manually and on her phone. 

“Yet we are not paid overtime for the additional tasks, and we can be terminated from our jobs at any time as has happened before,” said Ms. Negi, who has been an Anganwadi worker for 16 years.  

Job insecurity, a major concern for the 18,000 workers affiliated with DSWAHU, stems from the terminations that left 884 workers and helpers in dire straits in 2022. While 551 of them have been offered their jobs back, some have taken up odd jobs to sustain their families and some still hold on to the hopes of reinstatement. The notice, sent in March 2022, from the Delhi government’s Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) stated that they were terminated because they had participated in a strike. The workers were protesting for government employee status, a minimum salary of ₹25000 for Anganwadi workers and ₹20000 for helpers. 

A Delhi High court case on the terminations is currently ongoing.

In April, the Delhi Anganwadi union released a charter of demands, which was sent to every party’s office.

Shivani, the president of the union, said that their primary concerns include immediate reinstatement of the terminated workers, along with salaries paid for the months that they were not working, increased wages in tune with increasing expenses and recognition as permanent employees, which will ensure other benefits such as gratuity and a provident fund.