Despite negotiations with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, aanganwadi workers in Maharashtra have decided to prolong their indefinite strike, which began on December 4. The talks aimed at securing increased wages and benefits failed to reach an agreement. Approximately 200,000 aanganwadi workers have been on strike, disrupting essential nutritional and educational services provided by these centers. The strike directly affects children under 6 years, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
The Maharashtra State Anganwadi Staff Action Committee, leading the workers’ agitation, reported that Chief Minister Shinde outrightly rejected the possibility of a salary hike, resulting in fruitless negotiations. The committee, formed by seven aanganwadi unions, confirmed that the strike would persist. Key members of the delegation, including MA Patil, Shubha Shamim, Dilip Utane, Kamal Parulekar, Bhagwan Rao Deshmukh, Suvarna Talekar, and Appa Patil, expressed their disappointment with the unsuccessful discussions.
Thousands of aanganwadi workers from across Maharashtra gathered at Azad Maidan to escalate their protest. Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and former Women and Child Development Minister Varsha Gaikwad announced their support for the strike.
The workers’ demands include government employee status, gratuity, increased remuneration, monthly pension, and mobile phones. They are also advocating for higher rent for Aanganwadis and an increase in the food allocation per child, currently at Rs 8. Referring to a Supreme Court verdict on gratuity, the committee emphasized that the remuneration received by aanganwadi employees for full-time work should be considered a salary. They argue that the government should grant them government employee status with associated benefits like minimum wage, dearness allowance, and gratuity. While the Chief Minister suggested addressing pending issues other than a remuneration hike, the Action Committee expressed its inability to call off the strike, resulting in the continuation of the agitation at Azad Maidan.