Anganwari workers, cops clash near Dhindsa’s house

Sushil Goyal

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, September 2

A large number of anganwari workers and helpers today clashed with the police near the residence of Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa when the latter tried to stop them from heading towards the minister’s residence.

As part of their agitation, the workers had come to Dhindsa’s residence to submit a memorandum enlisting their demands. No one was injured in the clash.

Later, the anganwari workers sat on the Sangrur bypass road and blocked it.

They lifted the road blockade when a tehsildar visited the dharna site and received the memorandum from them. The workers were demanding implementation of wages on Haryana pattern, as promised by the state government in 2012, and government employee status for the anganwari workers.

District president of the Anganwari Mulazam Union Punjab (CITU) Gurmail Kaur said in Haryana the anganwari workers had been getting Rs 7,500 per month and helpers were getting Rs 3,500 per month whereas in Punjab, the workers got Rs 5,000 and a helper received Rs 2,500 per month. She said they also wanted Rs 18,000 per month for an anganwari worker and Rs 9,000 per month for a helper as minimum wages.

She demanded that every anganwari helper should be promoted as anganwari worker after three years of service, instead of 10 years.

Ranjit Kaur Channo, a leader of the union, said in the seventh pay commission’s report, the anganwari workers and helpers had been ignored.