CITU leaders deplore arrest of Anganwadi workers, demand justice in Visakhapatnam

CITU condemns suppression of Anganwadi workers' peaceful agitation; demands payment of wages on par with Telangana, gratuity, medical leave & welfare schemes.

CITU district general secretary R.K.S.V. Kumar and A.P. Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union (CITU) district honorary president P. Mani condemned the suppression of Anganwadi workers, who were planning to participate in the ‘Chalo Vijayawada’ programme seeking a solution to their demands.

The Anganwadi workers staged a ‘rasta roko’ at the RTC Complex here on Monday demanding justice and denouncing the State government for using the police force to suppress their ‘peaceful agitation’. The two leaders alleged that the leaders were either being detained at their homes or were being arrested, and thereby deprived of their right to stage protests.

They said that the workers could not be cowed down by the use of force. The protests would be continued till their demands were met by the government. The demands include: payment of wages for Anganwadi and helpers on par with their counterparts in Telangana State, as promised by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the past, honouring the Supreme Court verdict on payment of gratuity and provision of medical leave, and extension of the benefits of the State government’s welfare schemes to Anganwadi workers.

M. Kumar said that the call for ‘Chalo Vijayawada’ on September 25 was given by the State committee to stage a protest during the Assembly session.