Anganwadi workers, animators stage dharna

Nellore: Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, IKP animators, field assistants of the MGNRGS staged dharna under the aegis of the CITU here on Thursday took out a massive rally demanding the government to solve their problems. They came down heavily against the anti-workers’ policies of the state government.

The Nellore (Rural) MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy extended his support to the dharna. He assured them that he would continue to fight till the problems of DWCRA women were resolved. He said that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu should fulfill the promises that he made to the Anganwadi workers and DWCRA women. He said that he would raise this issue during the next Assembly session.

Sridhar Reddy said that he would pressurise the government to regularise the services of the contract workers and promised them that the YSR Congress Party would always stand by the common man, the poor and the downtrodden and fight for their cause. The YSRCP would take up the long term issues, he said. Sridhar Reddy said that he took their problems to the notice of the YSRCP president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and that was why Jagan sent him to the dharna site instead of the State Assembly to express solidarity with the workers.

Later, addressing the workers, state CITU president Punyavathi lamented that the IKP animators did not receive their salaries for the past 16 months and they were facing immense hardships. She said that the State government had no moral right to speak about the loans of DWCRA women.

Punyavathi lashed out at Chandrababu Naidu for going on foreign jaunts to Singapore and Japan ignoring the plight of the poor in the state.

She wondered whether the Chief Minister knew about the salaries, perks and allowances of workers in foreign countries. She alleged that the ASHA workers were being harassed and demanded that this should stop immediately. She said that the government should reconsider its decision to remove the field assistants of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Anantapur: Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, IKP animators, field assistants of the MGNRGS besieged the Collectorate in the town on Thursday. They also held a big rally in which women participated in large numbers.
District Communist Party of India (Marxists) Secretary Obula lashed out at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for misleading the youth by making false promises during the time of the elections and totally forgetting them now. He said that Chandrababu promised to provide jobs to all but after coming to power, did nothing for them. It was unfortunate that the Chief Minister was trying to remove the contract employees, he said.

Obula said that the Chief Minister announced several times that he was a changed man now but continued with his old habits. He reminded Chandrababu that he lost power ten years ago for riding roughshod over the employees, unemployed youth and farmers. He said that the farmers, contract workers, staff of the electricity department were facing immense hardships during the last six months.

He alleged that the TDP government was harassing the Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and field assistants. He said that the agencies and catering services of the mid-day meals scheme were removed. He said that due to the atrocities committed by the TDP leaders, the contract workers and government employees were unable to discharge their responsibilities properly in Dharmavaram and Kadiri constituencies.

Kadapa: Alleging that the State government is neglecting their demand for providing job security and implementation of minimum wages to them, Anganwadi workers led by CITU laid siege to the Collectorate here on Thursday. They prevented District Collector K V Ramana from entering the office. The police forcibly evicted them to make way for the Collector.

Speaking on the occasion, CITU state secretary Dhanalakshmi criticised the government had failed to implement its promises to the Anganwadi workers. The officials were making promises only to make the workers withdraw their agitation every time but not solving even a single problem, she added. No one was heeding to their request for implementation of PF and ISI, she pointed out. Dhanalakshmi warned the government with intensifying the agitation if the demands are not meted out at least now.