Vijayawada: Anganwadi workers ended their 42 days long strike on Monday night. Education minister Botcha Satyanarayana once again turned troubleshooter for the government and convinced the Anganwadi workers to rejoin duties.
Anganwadi workers launched a strike with 11 major demands which included increasing the salaries on par with Telangana state as promised before the 2019 elections. State government denied the demands and imposed the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
Workers intensified the strike and staged a hunger strike at Dharma Chowk in the city along with the leaders of CITU, AITUC and other trade unions. Police foiled to protests on Sunday night and arrested the agitators.
Following the band call given by Anganwadis on Wednesday, the state government issued orders to terminate the workers and restart the recruitment process. Around 70,000 workers were terminated on Monday morning and Anganwadi workers started flash protests across the state.
Botcha Satyanarayana and government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy swung into action and held talks with trade unions and workers associations until late night on Monday. Government assured that the wages will be increased by July month.
Workers agreed to withdraw strike and rejoined duties on Tuesday. “Our major demand is a pay hike. Government acted too harshly and escaped from implementing it. Ten demands including the extension of retirement age to 62 years and increase in retirement benefits were fulfilled. Government also agreed to pay salaries during the strike period,” said M Durga Kumar, an Anganwadi worker.
