Skip to main content

Uttar Pradesh CM asked not to involve anganwadi workers in Covid-19 survey

Anganwadi workers with demands at Unnao district magistrate's office
By A Representative
Citing the recent death of an anganwadi worker, Kamini Nigam, working in Unnao district due to coronavirus infection and lack of treatment facility, Workers’ Front, an Uttar Pradesh-based civil rights organization, has demanded that the state government should immediately stop asking the anganwadi workers to carry out survey work for detecting Covid-19 patients.
In a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Workers’ Front president Dinkar Kapoor, even as demanding compensation to the tune of Rs 50 lakh to the kin of Kamini Nigam, said, anganwadis’ main job is to mainly serve nutritional and health needs of pregnant and lactating women, children under xsic and teenager girls under 18. These groups have to be kept safe as per Government of India guidelines. By putting anganwadi workers in survey work, the state government is putting the life these sections in danger.
Kamini Nigam was carrying out survey under the orders of the government, the letter said, adding, during this work, she became Covid-19 infected, but failed to get any treatment in Unnao. As a result she was taken to a Kanpur hospital, where she did not get any bed, and succumbed the disease.
Additional chief secretary Revenue Renuka Kumar on April 11 had ordered an insurance of Rs 50 lakh in case of death of permanent or temporary employees engaged in Covid-19 work. “As per this mandate, Kamini Nigam’s relatives should also be provided with Rs 50 lakh compensation”, the letter insisted.

Comments

TRENDING

The making of a self-made woman: How eighty sheep changed everything for Kalawati Ninama

By Vikas Meshram*  About forty-two kilometres from Rajasthan's Banswara district, in the tribal heartland of Ghatol block, lies the small village of Ubapana. This is where Kalawati Ninama, her husband Dhulji, and their four children make their home. Their days unfold much like those of their neighbours—bustling mornings, long hours of farm labour through the afternoon, and evenings spent tending livestock. For this family, farming and livestock were once simply a means of putting food on the table. Today, they have become the sturdy foundation of something far greater: genuine self-sufficiency.

India has spent billions on skilling. Where are the jobs?

By Vikas Gupta   India loves the photograph of a certificate ceremony. A minister on a stage. A banner bearing the word “skill.” Young people holding folders that promise a future. It is a reassuring image because it tells us the problem has a manageable answer: train the young, make them job-ready, and work will follow.

BAPS, the Eiffel Tower and the curious silence on secularism

By Rajiv Shah   I was a little surprised to see how some of those whom I respect for taking a firm stand on patriarchal issues reacted to the manner in which they responded to the recent incident in Paris, in which women employees of the Eiffel Tower were asked to remain "invisible" on September 5 when 100 BAPS sadhus visited one of the world's top tourist destinations.