'Kejriwal didn't keep promise of higher wages': Delhi Anganwadi workers, helpers protest

By Harsh Thakor*
In a unique display of protest on May Day, Delhi's Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union, along with the Karaval Nagar Mazdoor Union and the Delhi Metro Rail Worker Union, successfully resisted the police patrol stationed to obstruct their rally, seeking to prevent the demonstrators from proceeding further. However, the rally managed to reach Jantar Mantar, the spot designated for protests near Parliament in Delhi.
President of the Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union Shivani told the rally how the rulers showed scant concern for the day to day needs of the workers, being unable to provide them an adequate living wage or housing. She dwelled on how the corporates had a total monopoly and patronage of the ruling party and how laws were being amended to strangulate the working class.
Other union leaders narrated how the Centre was leaving no stone unturned in reducing the working class to shackles by passing 44 laws making it completely subservient to the corporates by extending working hours without awarding any compensation, and giving owners the maximum power to retrench workers.
They demanded an eight hour work day and related the demand to awarding an adequate living wage, proper living conditions and work conditions. The virtual stripping of all rights of workers to protest was highlighted, as also how the rulers were intensifying their efforts to alienate the working class. The speakers criticised the Arvind Kejriwal government for not complying to its promise of increasing wages of workers.
Women activists spoke about the “ruthless exploitation” they faced at the hands of the rulers and expressed opposition to the police force for blocking their protest. The anger or indignation amongst the workers against the behaviour of the ruling classes has touched a boiling point, they said.
The May Day agitation by the Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union was preceded by protests on January 31, March 14 and April 18, which allegedly earned the wrath of the rulers. A national bulletin critical of Arvind Kejriwal said, "He heralded himself as a brother, and now, has forced us, whom he called sisters, on the roads. What do we do if not indulge in protests? They won't even let us take rallies, The police are nothing but a mere dolls of the Government. But we won't stop fighting, till they listen and fulfill all our demands."

The protestors included workers from Bawana, Delhi, and other nearby areas who sought a stable occupation, minimum wages, and decent working conditions. During their earlier protest, the Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union members surrounded the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department office in Delhi on April 18, demanding the release of pending honorarium and on-time payment.
While WCD officials met with workers’ representatives and assured payment of arrears within a week, the anganwadi (childcare) workers alleged that the Central and state governments were dismissing workers for their involvement in their indefinite strike for higher pay which began on January 31.
The workers ended the strike, which involving thousands, on March 14, after the government imposed its anti-strike Essential Services Maintenance Act. Over 1,000 workers were terminated during the strike.
There are about 10,700 anganwadi centres and 20,000 anganwadi workers and helpers in Delhi. The current monthly honorarium for anganwadi workers and helpers is Rs 9,678 and Rs 4,839 rupees respectively, apart from minor incentive payments for selected programmes.
Strikers had demanded a monthly wage of Rs 25,000 for anganwadi workers and Rs 20,000 rupees for helpers.
---
*Freelance journalist

Comments

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

The selective memory of a violent city: Uttam Nagar and the invisible victims of Delhi

By Sunil Kumar* Hundreds of murders take place in Delhi every year, yet only a few incidents become topics of nationwide discussion. The question is: why does this happen? Today, the incident in Uttam Nagar has become the centre of national debate. A 26-year-old man, Tarun Kumar, was killed following a dispute that reportedly began after a balloon hit a small child. In several colonies of Delhi, slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” are being raised while demanding the death penalty for Tarun’s killers. As a result, nearly 50,000 residents of Hastsal JJ Colony are now living in what resembles a state of confinement.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Search This Blog