Jalgaon: Nearly 7,800 Anganwadi workers and helpers across Jalgaon district are facing severe financial difficulties due to non-payment of their honorariums for the last two months. Angry over the delay, workers have now warned of a possible work stoppage, which could impact child welfare and nutrition programmes across the district.
According to the Anganwadi Employees’ Coordination Committee, honorariums of Anganwadi workers and assistants across Maharashtra have remained pending for two months, pushing thousands of workers into financial distress. Many workers claim they are struggling to manage household expenses due to the delay in payments.
In protest against the situation, Anganwadi workers have launched a statewide agitation in Mumbai demanding immediate release of pending honorariums and resolution of other long-pending issues.
Among their key demands is the implementation of a continuous one-month leave during peak summer instead of the existing system of two separate 15-day leave periods. Workers have also demanded correction of anomalies related to incentive allowances and other benefits.
Leaders of the employees’ coordination committee stated that despite the ongoing sit-in protest in Mumbai, no concrete assurance has yet been received from the government. As a result, Anganwadi workers and assistants from Jalgaon district are now considering a complete work stoppage in the coming days.
If the agitation intensifies and services are halted, officials fear it could adversely affect several government schemes related to child nutrition, maternal care and malnutrition eradication programmes being implemented through Anganwadi centres across the state.
