Mumbai: Anganwadi workers at Azad Maidan, children suffer malnourishment amid strike

Anganwadi workers who stormed Azad Maidan for their demands

For the past month, Anganwadi centers across Maharashtra have been closed due to a strike by two lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers, impacting the nutritional and health status of lakhs of children in the state. "Families in the village ask us when the school will restart. There are many malnourished children who need to be fed. We feel bad too, but if we do not do this, no one will listen to our complaints," said Sujata Indalkar, who was part of about 15,000 to 20,000 Anganwadi workers who stormed Azad Maidan, staged a roadblock near the BMC head office, and even occupied space at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, demanding fair compensation for their decades of efforts contributing to better public health in the state.

The women want their salaries to be Rs 26,000, up from Rs 10,000 for the workers and Rs 20,000, increased from the current Rs 5,500, for the helpers. The quantum of work done by the two is attested by the number of children benefiting under Anganwadi schemes in the state.

Protesters Sujata Indalkar and Sangeeta Dande

According to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, in 2021, a total of 64 lakh 25 thousand 949 children in the age group of 6 months to 6 years benefited from its supplementary nutrition program, and 24 lakh 21 thousand 736 children in the age group of 3 to 6 benefited from its preschool education program, both carried out by Anganwadi workers. "We do not want children to suffer, but the conditions under which Anganwadi workers do their job are inhumane. They are compelled to also be domestic workers for an additional source of income. These are essential service workers; is this how we want to treat them? They need to be recognized as government employees," said Shubha Shamim, president of Anganwadi Karmachari Sanghatana affiliated with CITU and convener of Maharashtra Anganwadi Kruti Samiti.

Indalkar arrived in Mumbai early morning on Wednesday from Ramnagar village under Satara district. Like her, there are at least 50 other workers and helpers from villages of Satara who undertook this 200 km journey together. "The media is covering us now. The government is listening to our concerns when we are here; where was everyone when Anganwadi centers across Maharashtra were shut for a month? Why did we have to come here?" questioned Sangeeta Dande, a helper at the protest from another village in Satara.

One pair of Anganwadi workers and helpers together surveys a little over 1,000 pregnant women and children, monitoring nutrition levels, height, and weight. They also look after nutritious meals for the two groups, counsel teenage girls, distribute take-home rations, and oversee pre-primary education.

Anganwadi workers at CSMT

The workers are moreover responsible for maintaining all of this data through the Central government's Poshan Tracker app. "We do not receive a separate phone for this job or a monthly mobile recharge allowance. In a lot of places, in villages or hilly areas, there are network issues due to which a worker cannot immediately upload the data. So, her time and money are also spent on searching for a network area to fill up the details; if she doesn't do this, then she loses her day's wage," said Pooja Patil, a 39-year-old worker from Gadap village under Raigad district.

Many Anganwadi workers from Mumbai and surrounding areas also participated in the protest. Savita Chavan, who looks after an Anganwadi center in Ghatkopar said, "The meals that have been reaching the centers have been of poor quality and are the rations that we are asked to distribute. We face the anger from people even as it is out of our control."

Meanwhile, opposition leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad visited the protest site. By afternoon, Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar visited the site, who, according to the protestors, showed very little indication of the government accepting their demands.

Anganwadi workers gathered at Azad Maidan for a protest

All he did was remind us there was a hike of Rs 1,000 earlier this year, Shamim said.

"What will happen with such small hikes? The last hike was also of Rs 1,000, that too in 2017. There was a proposal during Uddhav Thackray's Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government to increase the honorarium to Rs 15,000, but their government fell before it could move forward," Shamim said.

Attempts were made to contact state's Integrated Child Development Services commissioner Rubal Agarwal, who remained unavailable for a comment.

Workers Paid Rent Despite Delays

In 2022, the Supreme Court had noted that it was up to the Union as well as state governments to pay gratuity and extend the rightful recognition of being employees to Anganwadi workers. Anganwadi centers function out of rented spaces where the state government pays workers Rs 750 per month to rent a space. Many protestors mid-day spoke with said there have been delays in payments, and the workers have had to pay this sum from their own pockets.