DEFYING the rains and adverse weather conditions, more than eight thousand anganwadi workers and helpers from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal sat on ‘Anganwadi Adhikar Mahapadav’ dharna that was organised by the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH), for three continuous days from July 26-28 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

This massive all India mobilisation held after three and half years, brought a festive mood among the struggling workers. They spoke, gave slogans, sang and danced in their own languages and expressed the issues and struggles of the anganwadi workers and helpers also through local/regional cultural activities.  Cultural performances like Bihu dance from Assam, tribal songs from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, dances from Kodagu (Karnataka) and Araku valley (Andhra Pradesh) on the issues of malnutrition, repression and issues of the workers were performed on the stage. Revolutionary songs as well as songs written by them on the issues and struggles were presented by all states.

The mahapadav was declared for four days from July 26-29, 2022. Police denied permission for the dharna for the third and fourth days. So, AIFAWH decided to defy the order and march to parliament on the third day to culminate the padav and go for jail bharo. The participants who were supposed to attend on the fourth day were called on the third day itself. Then the Delhi police came to terms and requested the organisers to convert the march to parliament into dharna and carry on with the padav. With the triumph over the police adminstration, the padav was concluded on the third day itself with a massive mobilisation of thousands of workers and helpers.

The padav was organised in the background of increasing workload, targeting of beneficiaries in the name of Aadhaar linking, harassment of workers in the name of ‘poshan tracker’, non- payment of any risk allowance or compensation for those who died during covid duty, non-implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on gratuity to anganwadi workers and helpers and privatisation of ICDS in various forms. Severe repression and mass scale retrenchment is being unleashed by various governments against the struggles and union activists are being falsely implicated in criminal cases at the instruction of the BJP led central government. 

This three day long mahapadav started with the welcome address and introduction of issues by Usha Rani, president of AIFAWH. It was inaugurated by Tapan Sen, general secretary of CITU who explained the current political situation and the tasks before the working class movement.  The padav was addressed and greeted by leaders of CITU and various class, mass and social organisations, intellectuals etc. This included K Hemalata, CITU president, A K Padmanabhan, vice president, Saibabu, secretary, Jaibhagawan, Haryana state secretary of CITU, Hannan Mollah, AIKS general secretary, Ashok Dhawale, president, Krishnaprasad, finance secretary, V Sivadasan MP, joint secretary of AIAWU, Mariam Dhawale, AIDWA general secretary, S Punyavati, treasurer, Asha Sharma Delhi state pesident, A A Rahim MP, president of DYFI, Adv P V Surendranath, general secretary of AILU, and Anjali Bhardwaj from Right to Food Campaign. Many other leaders of mass organisations, intellectuals and activists participated in the padav.

The three days’ mahapadav was conducted by a presidium consisting of Usha Rani, president, Varalakshmi, Shubha Shamim, Mary Job and Harjeet Kaur, vice presidents and Veena Gupta secretary of AIFAWH.

Anganwadi leaders from states – Subbaravamma from Andhra Pradesh, Meena from Assam, Anjta Jha from Bihar, Gajendra Jha and Sangeeta from Chhattisgarh, Radha from Delhi, Kailash Rohit from Gujarat, Veena Shrama from Himachal Pradesh, Shakuntala, Urmila from Haryana, Savitri Soren and Meera from Jharkhand, Surayya and Hanifa from J&K, Varalakshmi, Sunanada and Shanta from Karnataka, Presannakumari and Mary Job from Kerala, Kishori Varma from MP, Shubha Shamim and Sangeeta Kamble from Maharashtra, Harjeet Kaur, Subhash Rani and Manjeet from Punjab, Daisy from Tamil Nadu, Jayalakshmi from Telangana, Chaman Ara and Veena Gupta from UP, Shanti from Uttarakhand, Sheela Mandal and Indrani Mukherjee from West Bengal spoke on the issues and struggles of the respective states.

Members of parliament Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, A M Aarif, V Sivadasan and A A Rahim expressed their solidarity and support while addressing the gathering. 

P R Natarajan, CPI(M) MP moved an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on the issues raised by the AIFAWH. CITU secretary and MP Elamaram Kareem gave a notice to submission on the issues. Due to the pandemonium in the house the issues could not be raised in the parliament.

Appointment with the women and child development minister was sought but as the minister was busy dealing with the allegations against her, it could not be materialised till date. The government is silent on the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on the right to gratuity of anganwadi workers and helpers.

Concluding the mahapadav, AIFAWH general secretary A R Sindhu said that the prime minister never meets any representatives of the people and the WCD minister is busy with her “Beti Bachao” (there are allegations of corruption against the minister’s daughter and she is busy protecting her) just now. Sindhu called upon the anganwadi employees to intensify the struggle. On behalf of the presidium, Usha Rani congratulated the anganwadi workers and helpers and all the state unions for the success of the struggle. The mahapadav resolved to build a wider movement of scheme workers in a phased manner, to save the basic services schemes and for the rights of the scheme workers.

The future course of action announced by AIFAWH is as follows:
• AIFAWH will boycott the direction of the government to the anganwadi workers to sell the national flags on the occasion of 75 Years of Independence
• Join the Mass Awakening (Samoohik Jagaran) programme by CITU, AIKS and AIAWU on August 14, 2022 for real independence from poverty, hunger, illiteracy and ill health
•  AIFAWH will organise massive ‘Jawaab Maango Abhiyan’               (Ask for Answers Campaign) in each parliamentary constituency and organise gherao of ruling Party MPs
• One day national strike along with other scheme workers in January 2023
•  Join en masse in the joint march of farmers, agricultural workers and workers during the next budget session of parliament.

The struggles and movements of the anganwadi workers and the ASHA workers during the pandemic were instrumental in breaking the fear psychosis being created during the pandemic, lockdown and the imposition of Section 144 of IPC throughout the country. These massive struggles and the active involvement of the scheme workers during the historic kisan struggle and their increasing participation in each and every working class mobilisation has invited the ire of the ruling class as well as the RSS. The repression, victimisation and vilification in various states is the reflection of this. At the same time the movement has earned tremendous public support and high respect among the people with its conscious efforts. The three-day mahapadav is a precursor to the bigger mobilisations of the working people in the coming days.