Teacher unions slam ‘government indifference’ to woes of Anganwadi staff

FAPTO urges Govt. to address Anganwadi workers' longstanding problems; expresses solidarity with protesting teachers & ayahs.

Leaders of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Organisations (FAPTO) have urged the Government to address the problems of Anganwadi workers who were on an indefinite protest since December 12, seeking immediate solutions to their longstanding problems.

In a statement, the State chairman of the federation N. Venkateswarlu and secretary general Manjula said Anganwadi workers had been trying to bring their problems to the government’s notice for last three years by submitting representations but the State remained indifferent to their woes.

They said instead of looking into their genuine problems, the government was trying to attach the children in Anganwadi centres with the primary schools with an instruction that these children also should be served mid-day meal along with the primary school students.

The federation leaders said teachers in primary schools were already over-burdened with both teaching and non-teaching duties. Additional responsibility of taking care of the children of Anganwadi centres would prove to be cumbersome for them. Moreover, there was no clarification on the expenditure incurred on cooking extra food for these children or their safety aspect.

“Expressing solidarity with the protesting Anganwadi teachers and ayahs,” they said they would not hesitate to launch a direct protest should such need arise.