Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Jan 29: Despite working tirelessly in implementation of various Government schemes and even acting as frontline workers during COVID pandemic, thousands of Anganwadi workers are without wages for last eight months in the UT of J&K. What has added to the woes of these hapless workers is their liability of some months of 2019 which have not been cleared by the Government till date.
As per sources, some of the workers even have not been paid the wages of 2019 while the supervisors and helpers are without wages for over last two and half years. Besides, the wages of displaced Anganwadi workers are pending for last two years putting them to acute hardships in their day-to-day life.
Sources said, while thousands of Anganwadi workers of UT are without honorarium for last nine months, their migrant counterparts have been denied the same since 2018. Running from pillar to post for release of their honorarium and taking up the issue with the higher authorities in the Department justice still eludes them.
Sources said, the main problem of the non-payment of wages to the Anganwadi workers is delay in release of budget from Central Government. The Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) being a Central Government scheme, its 90 percent budget is borne by Government of India as grant while 10 percent is of the State or UT Government. But for over last one year the budget was not provided by Central Government with the result the wages could not be paid to workers in the UT.
Sources said, the Government involves the ICDS workers, helpers and supervisors in propagation and campaigning of all public welfare schemes launched by it from time to time like Beti Bachao Beti Padao, Ayushman Bharat etc. Even their services were utilized as frontline workers during COVID pandemic and they were deployed in rural belt to educate people to use masks, wash hands with soap or clean them with sanitizers, besides keeping two meter long distance and avoiding gatherings etc to keep the dreaded COVID at bay.
Constantly working shoulder to shoulder with health workers and other Government employees, the Anganwadi workers are paid a paltry sum of Rs 4100 per month as honorarium while a helper is paid Rs 1800 per month. Sources said, earlier the Government had assured to increase the honorarium to Rs 7500 in 2018 and for four months in 2018 the honorarium was released at this rate and later decreased to Rs 5100.
Accusing the Government of total betrayal the workers said that even they were not paid the honorarium at the rate of Rs 7500 per month and the same was decreased to Rs 4100 again and to their dismay this amount too has not been now released for last over nine months which has generated a lot of resentment among the workers all over J&K, sources added.
Sources said, the Government has failed to release the carriage charges of the nutritious, charges for purchase of fuel and charcoal as well as rent of the centers for last one year. The workers are facing harassment from the owners of centers for non payment of rent, sources added.
They added that Government had also fixed 60 years the retirement age for the Anganwadi workers and helpers. During the dharna at Srinagar in 2018 it was promised by the Government that on retirement, every worker will be paid a retirement benefit of Rs five lakh while a helper will be paid Rs three lakh. “But this promise too has not been kept. Even a single penny has not been paid till date on the retirement of a worker or a helper and after relinquishing the job by serving the Department for 30 to 35 years the workers feel dejected as they have no answer to their children in case they ask them what was their achievement for 30 to 35 years,” sources said.
The situation is much worst for displaced Anganwadi workers from Kashmir who after the migration struggled a lot for the release of their honorarium and approached the concerned Department in this regard. As the Department denied wages to them they took up the issue in Apex Court with a submission to release of honorarium.
Thus on 17.12.1997 the Supreme Court disposed off the case with the direction to the concerned authorities to release the honorarium to the displaced Anganwadi workers at par with the other displaced Government employees. The Director, Social Welfare Department released their honorarium along with the arrears w.e.f 1990 to 1997 on the basis of court orders and thereafter they were getting the honorarium smoothly till the bifurcation of Social Welfare and ICDS Departments.
After the bifurcation, the displaced Anganwadi workers were deployed in the different Anganwadi Centers in Jammu district by the Department and since then they are performing their duties till date but despite discharging duties, their honorarium was stopped due to unknown reasons, sources said.
Later they approached Secretary Social Welfare Department and Mission Director ICDS J&K with a request to release their honorarium and accordingly the Secretary Social Welfare Department and Mission Director ICDS JK released their honorarium till March, 2018 and there after it was not released.
Though approaching the Department many times for release of honorarium, it failed to take any action till date despite the fact that the families are suffering a lot financially in prevailing COVID pandemic.
These workers have also demanded release of honorarium since April 2018 and allocation of the proper budget in this regard so that the problem does not arise in future also.
However, when contacted Director General Social Welfare, Mir Tariq told Excelsior that the problem was due to non allocation of budget. He said the 90 per cent budget allocation to the ICDS is from Centre and 10 per cent is from J&K. He said now the budget has been sanctioned and the honorarium to the workers will be released soon.
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