Karnataka - Bangalore

30-year service, Rs. 1,750 pay

BANGALORE: R. Yashoda, an anganwadi worker in Puradagudde in Chickballapur district, draws Rs. 1,750 as salary a month even after 30 years of service.

There are thousands of Yashodas in the State whose plight is not different.

“I started working as an anganwadi worker at Puradagudde in 1978. My basic salary was Rs. 175 a month. I have been deprived of provident fund or ESI facilities. After several protests by anganwadi workers, the salary has now been increased to Rs. 1,750,” says Yashoda. She had come here from Chickballapur to attend the convention of unorganised sector workers on Saturday. The convention was organised by the National Progressive Federation of Unorganised Workers.

“We have been waiting for the last three months for our salary. In every profession experience counts in getting annual increment. But in the case of anganwadi workers, freshers are also paid on a par with us,” said C. Soubhagyamma, another anganawadi worker from Chickballapur.

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