Thiruvananthapuram: The strike by anganwadi workers and helpers entered its third day on Wednesday. The agitation, led by the Confgress-affiliated Indian National Anganwadi Employees’ Federation (INTUC), seeks a hike in wages and other benefits.

Meanwhile, several prominent political and community leaders visited the striking employees on Tuesday in front of the secretariat. KPCC general secretary M Liju inaugurated the agitation on the second day, meanwhile MLAs Mathew Kuzhalnadan, Anoop Jacob, Eldhos Kunnappilly, Roji M John, Anwar Sadath and Najeeb Kanthapuram, KPCC general secretary G Subodhan, INTUC state president R Chandrasekharan, chairman of Milma’s Ernakulam region C N Valsalan Pillai and chairperson of the panchayat standing committee of Ernakulam district panchayat Ranikutty George addressed the striking employees. 

Anganwadi employees from Ernakulam district participated in the agitation on Tuesday, while their colleagues from Idukki are staging the strike on Wednesday.

Mercy John, INTUC state treasurer, said workers and helpers are forced to meet all expenses related to the functioning of the anganwadis from their own meagre income. “The government does not clear the bills related to such expenses even after several months. In some cases, there is a delay of years. We are compelled to strike, as there is nothing to take home,” she said.

The following are the main demands raised by the employees. 

Hike in wages:
Increase the minimum wage to ₹21,000 per month. Currently, anganwadi workers receive ₹12,500 and helpers ₹8,750 after deducting the contribution to the welfare fund. Though the state government had announced a hike of ₹1,000 for workers and ₹500 for helpers in the 2021 budget, it has not been implemented.

Single payment:
Anganwadi staff demand disbursal of wages in a single instalment. Presently, they are paid in three instalments.

Festival allowance:
Increase festival allowance to ₹5,000. They now receive ₹1,200, which the Oommen Chandy government fixed.

4G phones:
Another demand is that the government distribute 4G Android phones to carry out official work. At present, anganwadi employees use their own phones for official duties, as the ‘Poshan Tracker’ app, on which activities in anganwadis have to be uploaded, cannot be downloaded in the ‘Casphone’ supplied by the government.

Welfare pensions:
Increase the welfare pension of workers to ₹5,000 and of helpers to ₹4,000. Currently, pension payments have been delayed from 3 to 10 months.

Retirement benefits:
Anganwadi employees are demanding their retirement benefits to be raised to ₹5 lakh.

Health benefits:
Implement health benefits such as ESI or health insurance.