Anganwadi workers stage protest at Jantar Mantar

The Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union (DSAWHU) staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Saturday against the termination of some workers and helpers and the new labour codes.

Activists of Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, Disha Student Organisation and the All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) also joined the protest.

DSAWHU has claimed that 884 Anganwadi workers have been issued termination notices and 11,942 workers were issued show-cause notices by the Delhi government for participating in a 39-day strike to demand increase in honorarium and bring in respectable working hours.

"We demand that the termination of all workers and helpers must be withdrawn unconditionally. The government should stop victimising the terminated workers...before the matter is resolved before Delhi High Court, DSAWHU member Vrishali Shruti told PTI.

Shruti said that they demand all the dues of the anganwadi workers and helpers up to the month of April must be paid and that arrears of the terminated workers must be cleared without any condition.

Speaking about the new labour codes, she said, The four labour codes are yet another bounty to the capitalists. The anti-worker labour codes are in continuation with the unabated attack by the central government on workers' rights.

More than 200 Anganwadi workers and helpers gathered at Jantar Mantar and staged a sit-in protest.

The Anganwadi workers do not come under these labour laws, but when we fight for our regularisation we are seeking these same rights. Any attack on labour laws is an attack on our right to unionise, Shruti said.

Another protesting Anganwadi worker, Priyambada, said that their terminated workers and helpers should be reinstated as soon as possible.

We have two primary demands: our workers who were terminated must be reinstated at the earliest and all their dues must be cleared by the government, she said.

The strike was suspended after the then Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the workers.