Anganwadis in Krishnagiri want government to fully reimburse LPG cylinder cost

‘The cost of LPF refill has skyrocketed to ₹ 1,100, but the reimbursement by the government is only ₹ 400’

 Tamil Nadu Angawadi Workers and Helpers Association staged a protest outside the Collectorate here on Monday demanding full reimbursement of LPG cylinder cost by the government.

The protesters, who staged a sit-in with stoves, demanded that the government reimburse in full the LPG refill cost that is currently borne by the anganwadis. The cost of a cylinder has skyrocketed to ₹ 1,100, but the reimbursement by the government is only ₹ 400.

“The anganwadis perform the critical function of providing nutritional support to children and have anywhere between 15 to 50 children under its care. However, we are allocated only four cylinders a year, which is one cylinder for three months,” says Govindammal, District Secretary, Tamil Nadu Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Association.

The payment on the bill of the refill is borne by the anganwadi teachers out of their purse. But the bill amount reimbursed by the government is only ₹400, says Govindammal.

At one level, the workers find the allocation insufficient given the various cooking functions such as boiling eggs, and potatoes, preparing porridge, and other nutritious food for the children, and on the other hand, even the insufficient allocation is inadequately funded.  

“How will the anganwadi teachers manage if they are expected to bear the cylinder cost and how fair is it,” asks Govindammal. Anganwadis invariably resort to cooking with firewood to circumvent the costs.

The protesters also called for upgrading the employment of workers of mini-anganwadi centers; new mobile phones for anganwadi workers given that the old phones issued in 2018 were not functional; filling up of vacancies; unconditional promotion of workers upon completion of 10 years in service among other demands.