Demands immediate withdrawal of the false cases and illegal termination of anganwadi workers and helpers
Congratulates the anganwadi workers and helpers of Haryana for the magnificent strike for their rights and to save ICDS
AIFAWH will observe all India Protest Day on 1 February 2022 against repression in solidarity with the anganwadi workers and helpers in Haryana
All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH) strongly condemns the authoritarian attitude of the Haryana BJP Government illegally retrenching the union leaders and anganwadi workers and helpers who are on strike and falsely implicating them in various cases instead of resolving their issues.
AIFAWH will observe all India Protest Day on 1st February 2022 throughout the country. AIFAWH affiliates in 24 states and UTs will organize protest demonstrations and burn the effigy of the BJP government in Haryana.
More than fifty thousand anganwadi workers and helpers in Haryana are on strike since 8 December 2021. The strike, called by the Joint coordination committee of anganwadi unions, has been forced upon the anganwadi workers and helpers by the failure, rather refusal by the BJP government of Haryana to implement the mutually agreed benefits and commitments made by the Chief Minister of Haryana for annual increment and pay scale of skilled and unskilled workers as announced in the state assembly as early in 2018. The unions also demand that the pre-school in ICDS should not be privatized.
It is a shame for any democracy that it took more than twenty days for the Chief Minister of Haryana to call the striking union for a negotiation. On 29 December, the Chief Minister unilateral announced onetime retirement benefits of Rs. One lakh and Rs 50000 for the anganwadi workers and helpers respectively. The government refused to pay the increase of remuneration announced by the central government in 2018.
AIFAWH and its affiliates have already wrote to the Haryana CM demanding an early settlement of the issues.
Now, instead of having a dialogue with the Joint Coordination Committee of anganwadi unions, Manohar Lal Khattar government is resorting to repression and illegal activities. More than twenty five union leaders are terminated by the government, which is unfair labour practice and illegal. Many leaders, including the state general secretary of Anganwadi workers and helpers union Haryana and secretary of AIFAWH comrade Shakunatala, have been falsely implicated in many cases. We strongly condemns this action and demands immediate reinstatement of the retrenched workers in the state.
We strongly condemn the illegal orders by the Haryana government, one on payment of Rs.1000 towards covid duty during the past one and half years, only to those who are on duty on 12 January 2022. This ‘incentive’ made by the CM in his unilateral announcement for all those anganwadi and mini anganwadi workers and helpers who risked their lives doing covid duty is now being used as ‘traitor incentive’ to break the strike. This is illegal, unethical and unheard anywhere.
Similarly the department has asked for a list of those who have retired on 31 December 2021 for considering for retirement benefit, only those who were not on strike. It is shameful in a democracy that the workers who are rendering crucial services to the people even risking their own lives during the pandemic are forced to go on strike only for implementation of government’s own commitments and now facing such shameful illegal acts denying basic democratic rights. We demand the immediate withdrawal of these illegal and unethical orders. Government is now trying to break the strike also by organizing training for ‘play way school’ for the workers when the schools and offices are closed due to covid! The government is also resorting to misinformation campaign on the benefits of anganwadi workers and helpers in other states.
We congratulate the anganwadi workers and helpers in Haryana for continuing the strike successfully daring the repression and biting cold. The jail bharo held on 12 January had witnessed massive participation, in spite of a ban on protests.
It is shameful in a democracy that the workers who are rendering crucial services to the people even risking their own lives during the pandemic are forced to go for a strike only for implementation of government’s own commitments and continue for nearly two months merely in the absence of a dialogue! The crucial services of child development as well as pandemic-management of which anganwadis are an integral part, have been severely affected due to the adamant attitude of the government.
We demand that the government immediately stop repression of the striking employees and restart the dialogue with the unions so as to reach an amicable settlement.
We call upon the anganwadi workers and helpers throughout the country to organize protests on 1st February 2022 against the repression and in solidarity with the anganwadi workers and helpers of Haryana.
Issued by
A R Sindhu, General Secretary
