‘Forced to do extra duties’: 6 months on, over 50,000 anganwadi workers in Punjab yet to get honorarium

Union members said the deputy director of the Social Security Department had sought two to three days to resolve the issue, after which they would chalk out their next course of action.

They said that if the issue is not resolved, they would restrict the entry of Social Security Minister Dr Baljit Kaur to villages.

Punjab Anganwadi Employees Union president Hargobind Kaur alleged that despite repeated reminders, the honorarium component provided by the Centre has not been released for six months. “For the last two months, we have been in talks with the department, but the officials are only buying time. On September 17, we even served notice for a protest. Yet till today, nothing has been credited to our accounts,” Hargobind Kaur said.

She added that while the workers continue to receive around ₹6,500 per month from the state government for other social security works, the honorarium remains unpaid. “Already the monthly payout is the bare minimum, and now a major chunk is being withheld. We have learnt that the Centre has released its share, but the state government is not releasing it by adding its own contribution,” she alleged.

Hargobind Kaur was terminated by the Punjab government last year after joining the Shiromani Akali Dal, but continues to head the union.

Reshma, president of the Fazilka district unit of the Anganwadi Workers Association, said the workers were caught in a tussle between the state and the Centre.

“We haven’t even got the monthly mobile recharge reimbursement and are paying from our own pocket. We are told the state has failed to provide utilisation certificates of earlier funds, due to which more funds are blocked. Employees are suffering unnecessarily. Most anganwadi workers are needy women from low-income families. October is the month of festivals, and what to talk of a bonus when we are not even getting our full salary,” she said.

Hargobind Kaur said that her case is still pending in court and alleged that workers were being forced to do tasks of the Food and Civil Supplies Department in addition to their own duties. “Instead of depot holders, we are being pressured to carry out E-KYC of ration beneficiaries. We are already overburdened with duties like E-KYC, record-keeping under the Udaan scheme, and distribution of sanitary pads, but the government has not provided smartphones or sufficient recharge allowance. On top of this, they are withholding our honorarium. Anganwadi workers and helpers are extremely distressed,” she said.

“Earlier, we used to get the salary on the third of every month, whether it was the former SAD-BJP government or the previous Congress government. Even former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had passed a notification that a Rs 500 increment will be credited to the salary annually to anganwadi workers and Rs 250 for helpers. But the government is not giving this increment to the new joinee; it has to give it to all the employees recruited before 2022,” added Hargobind Kaur.

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