NO to the move to stop hot cooked meals in anganwadis!

NO to the move to introduce nursery schools in place of anganwadis!

NO to the cut in central share of the ICDS budget from 60% to 25%

For recognition as workers, for minimum wage and pension

THE All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH), in a statement issued on July 10, has congratulated the anganwadi workers and helpers all over the country for their vigorous protest on July 10 which is observed by the union as ‘Demands Day’.

Lakhs of anganwadi workers from 22 states – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal –observed “All India Demands’ Day” at the call of AIFAWH. A joint protest was held on July 9 in Odisha. In Delhi, the protest and mobilisation will be held on July 20.

In spite of heavy rains in many parts of the country, anganwadi workers and helpers gathered in large numbers. They are agitated because the BJP government at the centre which had promised to ‘increase the wages of the anganwadi workers’ in its election manifesto had not only violated its promise but also had cut down the budget of ICDS drastically. Now by introducing direct cash transfer in ICDS in the place of supplementary nutrition, nursery schools in place of anganwadis and by handing over the anganwadi centres to corporates and corporate NGOs, this government is dismantling the ICDS.

Demonstrations were held in front of the offices of various central government ministers in their constituencies in various places. AIFAWH is collecting signatures on a memorandum to the prime minister on these demands. Nearly three crore signatures will be submitted to the prime minister.

Anganwadi workers and helpers will participate in the ‘jail bharo’ on August 9 organised by the AIKS and CITU. On August 14th night, AIFAWH members will join the ‘Samoohik Jagran’ by CITU with the slogan “Freedom from malnutrition, illiteracy and ill health”

AIFAWH has also decided to mobilise fifty thousand anganwadi workers and helpers on September 5 in Delhi for the Worker-Peasant Sangharsh Rally.