Jharkhand State Anganwadi Karmachari Sangh (JSAKS) president Anita Birua, along with 3000 sevikas and sahaiyaks (female and male workers) representing 38,500 Anganwadi centres across Jharkhand, staged a day-long sit-in protest in Ranchi demanding corrective amendments in service rules on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
“We staged a one-day sit-in in Ranchi on Wednesday demanding corrective amendments in service rules framed for Anganwadi sevikas and sahaiyaks by the state government on September 30, 2022, such as the absence of employees provident fund (EPF), gratuity and such mandatory provisions. Chief minister Hemant Soren had promised EPF contribution by the state government at 6% in 2022 during our agreement with the state against our demand of 10%. But later, we found out that it has no mention in the rules,” Birua told HT on Thursday.
Birua added, “On the other hand, the Union government has not been increasing its share of contribution to our honorarium from ₹2,700, while the state government bears ₹1,800 as the state’s share along with an additional ₹5,000 from the state plan budget, making it a ₹9,500 monthly honorarium for sevikas and ₹4,750 (Centre’s ₹1,350 and state’s ₹3,400) for sahaiyaks.”
Birua led about 3,000 workers in Wednesday’s dharna (sit-in protest), with just one sevika or sahaiyak joining the stir from their respective centre to ensure Anganwadi services don’t get hampered. There are at least 80,000 Anganwadi workers in the state.
“We staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on September 4, 2023, and we are planning another demonstration in Delhi soon. We are trying to convince the Union and the state government that our work is no longer limited to Anganwadi workers. We work as block-level officers (BLOs) for election-related work and play a role in almost all government schemes. Our work hours are well over 8 hours a day,” said Birua.
She further lamented that the state government changed the recruitment policy for them, making it state-level now instead of division-level as it was previously. They are also demanding that the retirement age be increased to 65 years, a pension be provided, one-time retirement benefits of ₹10 lakh for Sevikas and ₹5 lakh for Sahaiyaks, and the reintroduction of summer vacation for them.
“This will deprive local candidates of opportunities, as candidates from other districts will also be able to apply now. They have also ignored the local language and distance factors. We demand that the honorarium of the Sevikas be hiked to a minimum of ₹24,000 per month and that of Sahaiyaks to ₹18,000 with a guaranteed 15% hike yearly. Moreover, EPF, gratuity, dearness allowance (DA), and medical allowance should be given to us. Do away with the age-limit eligibility, provide promotions to observers and other higher posts based entirely on seniority and comply with the Supreme Court order on nutritional food,” said Birua.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!” Click here!
