Maharashtra's anganwadi workers go on strike

“Shaasan ka bara kadar karat nahi aamchya mehnatichi [Why does the government not appreciate our hard work]?” asks anganwadi worker Mangal Karpe.

“Deshala nirogi, sudrudh thevnyaat aamcha motha haatbhaar laagto [We contribute a lot in keeping the country healthy and strong],” she says referring to how anganwadi workers like her run state schemes for pregnant and lactating mothers and their young children. 

Thirty-nine-year-old Mangal runs the anganwadi in Dorhale village in Rahata taluka of Maharashtra’s Ahmadnagar district. Like her, across the state there are two lakh women who work as anganwadi workers and helpers. They implement all the health, nutrition and early learning initiatives of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. 

To protest the state’s indifference towards them, hundreds of them are participating in a Maharashtra-wide indefinite protest launched on December 5, 2023. 

On the third day of the protest, with no response from the state till this story was published, hundreds of workers marched to the District Collector’s office in Shirdi town on December 8, 2023. 

“Are we doing anything wrong demanding [they] give us a dignified life,” says Manda Rukare, a 58-year-old anganwadi worker. With her age nearing 60, she is worried: “I will retire in a few years. Who is going to look after me when I won’t be capable of any physical activity?”. For the last 20 years Manda has worked at the anganwadi in her Rui village also in Ahmednagar district of the state. “What will I get in return as social security?” she asks. 

Anganwadi workers currently earn a monthly honorarium of Rs. 10,000, and helpers get Rs. 5,500. “When I started, I used to get 1,400 [rupees]. Over the years, it’s only an increment of 8,600 rupees since then [2005],” Mangal points out. 

Mangal takes care of 50 children – 20 of them between the ages of 3 to 6 years – at the Gavhane Wasti anganwadi, where, “every day I need to ensure children come to the center.” So, she often brings them herself on her scooter. 

But that’s not all. She also, “cooks breakfast and afternoon meals, making sure they eat properly, especially undernourished kids.” Her day doesn’t end with that – she has to keep records of each child and update the POSHAN tracker app – a time consuming and tedious data entry task.

“The cost of the diary and other stationary, internet recharge for POSHAN app, fuel to roam around for household visits, everything goes from our pocket,” says Mangal. “Nothing much is left from the money.” 

A graduate, she has been doing this work for the last 18 years, running her home as a single parent of her two teenage children – son Sai, 20 and Vaishnavi 18. Sai is studying for an Engineering degree and Vaishnavi is preparing for NEET exams. “I want my kids to have the best education. Our annual expenses go into thousands [of rupees]. It’s tough to manage on 10,000 [rupees] along with other household expenses,” she says.

So Mangal is forced to find other sources of income. “I go from home to home asking if they want anything to be stitched [like] blouses or dresses. I also edit small videos for people, help with any kind of application forms in English. Any petty work. What else shall I do then?” she says to explain why she looks for work. 

The struggles of anganwadi workers are similar to that of ASHA workers - Accredited Social Health Activists. (Read: Caring for villages, in sickness and in health). Both acts as a primary provider of health services and information from childbirth, immunisation, nutrition to handling deadliest diseases like tuberculosis or even pandemic like Covid-19. 

In April 2022 Supreme Court of India in its judgement, acknowledged the role of anganwadi workers and helpers as ‘pivotal’ and ‘significant’ against malnutrition and covid-19. The court directed that eligible anganwadi workers and helpers are ‘entitled to gratuity, with a simple interest of 10 per cent per annum’ 

Justice Ajay Rastogi in his parting remarks requested state and central government ‘to find out modalities in providing better service conditions of the voiceless commensurate to the nature of job discharged by them.’ 

Mangal, Manda and lakhs of anganwadi workers and helpers have been waiting for the implementation.

“We want written assurance from the Government this time. We won’t give up strike until then. This is about the respect we deserve. It is about our entity [अस्तित्व],” Mangal adds.