Condemns the draconian ESMA, retrenchment and repression on anganwadi, ASHA and MDM workers in Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh
Resolves to make the general strike on March 28-29, 2022 a grand success
ON March 15, around 1,500 anganwadi, ASHA and mid-day meal workers from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab under the leadership of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH), Mid Day Meal Workers Federation of India (MDMWFI) and All India Coordination Committee of ASHA Workers (AICCAW) assembled at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, in protest during the budget session of the parliament.
The march was organised for an increase in budget allocation for ICDS, MDMS and NHM; minimum wages and pension to the scheme workers – anganwadi, ASHA and mid-day meal workers and against the state repression, retrenchment and draconian ESMA invoked on scheme workers.
The march to the parliament was organised in the background of the ongoing protests of the scheme workers all over the country, including the ongoing strike of anganwadi workers and helpers in Haryana for the last 100 days. The governments of Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have unleashed repression and invoked ESMA against the struggling scheme workers in the past weeks.
K Hemalata, president CITU inaugurated the programme. It was addressed by Elamaram Kareem, MP, Rajya Sabha and secretary, CITU. He raised the issue in the parliament as well. The presidium of the meeting consisted of Veena Gupta, Surekha, Roshni and Anju.
The meeting was addressed by Usharani, president AIFAWH, Jaibhagwan, general secretary MDMWFI and Surekha for AICCAW. The meeting was also addressed by leaders of anganwadi, ASHA and MDM workers’ unions from Punjab, Haryana Delhi and UP – Harjeet Kaur, Saroj, Surjeet, Radha, Babita, Saraswati, Amrit, Kamala, Sunita, Nirmal, and Neeta.
A delegation consisting of A R Sindhu, Usharani and Devendri Sharma under the leadership of E Kareem and M A Ariff, MP, met the women and child development minister, Smriti Irani. She said that the remuneration must be increased by the state governments but said that the central government has finalised some social security schemes for the workers.
A R Sindhu, secretary CITU and general secretary AIFAWH delivered the concluding address.
The meeting resolved to make the all India general strike on March 28-29, 2022, on demands including that of scheme workers, a grand success.
The protest meeting called for organising ‘accountability meetings’ (javabdehi sabhas) in every parliamentary constituency and to meet all the MPs on the demands of adequate budget allocations, minimum wages and pension for the scheme workers. If the demands are not met, the federations will plan ‘padav’ in front of parliament in the next session.
