Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada District Anganwadi Workers and Assistants Association has urged the government to increase the honorarium being provided to its members during their election duty, by holding a huge protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Friday, October 5.

The protesters insisted that the government hiked their honorarium as per the current scenario. “Travel allowances and dearness allowances should be given to the Anganwadi workers when they engage in election works like disbursing voter identity cards, voters slips to the public and participating in awareness programmes. Anganwadi workers are not getting TA and DA, but officials who are engaged in election duty are being provided honorarium to the tune of Rs 1,500 per month. Hence, the Anganwadi workers are neglected by the government, they lamented.

“The objective of having the assistants was to look after the children in Anganwadi. But as years passed, other government works were also allotted to them, while their honorarium was increased just marginally. The Anganwadi workers and assistants did not receive reasonable increase even with years of service put in by them. The Anganwadi workers have to attend at least two meetings in a month. This left the Anganwadis solely in the charge of the assistants, who had to cook food for two hours a day both for the children and the pregnant women, and at the same time manage the children in the Anganwadis, which was tough. Hence, their salary should be hiked along with the honorarium being provided during the election duty,” they urged.