After protesting for more than a month, the Anganwadi workers recently escalated their protest with two of them undertaking a fast unto death in support of their demands. On Sunday, the third day of the fast unto death, the police took away one of the hunger strikers to the hospital.
Meanwhile, the State minister for Women and Child Development, Rekha Arya said that the government had been open to communication with the Anganwadi workers. She also said that the allowance given to them in Uttarakhand is higher than the amount paid in other states.
One of the protesters Savita Sharma said, “The Government has not responded to us since the commencement of our protest. Of course, we don’t expect them to accept all our demands at once but at least they can initiate some sort of communication. But no, they are behaving like we don’t exist whatsoever.”
“All we can do is to make stronger efforts and be optimistic that the government will care to listen to us through our ongoing fast unto death strike before it’s too late”, added another protester Shashi Thapa. At noon, doctors arrived to examine Shashi Thapa and Savita Sharma. One of the doctors, Dr Sushil said, “Though we still have a few more tests to do, for now, both the women seemed to be alright. Their blood pressure is normal, and there is no problem with urination.
Once we’ll figure out the ketone bodies in their urine, we would be able to comment on their health conditions clearly. As of now, the weight of both women has dropped, but there is no visible drastic health issue.” He added that only after complete test results are received would the final statement on their health be issued.
Later, in the evening, police carried Savita Sharma to Government Doon Medical College Hospital due to some health complications. Minakshi Rawat, an active member of Anganwadi workers protest, alleged, “We are mistreated by the government because we are women.
As per the statement of Child Development Minister Rekha Arya, we are just some ordinary women and we’ll get back to our work in a few days. If this is the thinking process of a female minister towards other women, we don’t know what to say.
She is not even aware of what we do or contribute to the welfare of children and society.” However, all the allegations were denied by the minister Rekha Arya. The minister stressed, “Uttarakhand pays the highest allowance to Anganwadi workers among all the states. They are not neglected just because they are women. Actually, their allowance was raised in the year 2018 only due to the fact that they are women and contribute significantly to the development of the State. It is unfortunate that they are lying about the efforts of the government to communicate with them.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had met them after calling them personally and their association has also been in constant touch with me. I think they are lost because of some political agenda.” She further added that the ninety per cent funding for Anganwadi workers is provided by the central government while the remaining ten per cent is funded by the State.
Also, the rules and regulations are similar in every state too as per the Centre.