JKNPP chief to sit on 24-hour hunger strike in support of Anganwari workers

JKNPP chief Balwant Singh Mankotia today said he would embark on a 24-hour hunger strike tomorrow to lend support to the four-months-long agitation by Anaganwadi workers demanding the release of pending salaries and a hike in honorarium.

He said the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party was lending full support to the demands of the employees and it would fight for their rights.

"I will be sitting on a 24-hours hunger strike on June 7 in favour of demands of the Anganwadi workers and helpers and ReT teachers at Press Club area in Jammu," Mankotia told reporters here.

The JKNPP chief said as the opposition party it was their responsibility to highlight the genuine issues of the employees and alleged that the government was not showing any concern towards their demands.

He attacked the BJP-PDP government for not allegedly taking care of the women who were on roads from four months.

More than 1,000 anganwadi workers today held a protest and marched in Jammu amid anti-government sloganeering.

The association's president Suman Suri said it was also seeking a seniority list, implementation of the pension scheme and gratuity of Rs 2 lakh for workers and Rs 1 lakh for helpers on retirement.

"We are getting a meagre amount of Rs 3,600 and Rs 1,800 for workers and helpers respectively, while our counterparts in other states, including Delhi, are getting Rs 10,000 and Rs 6,000 for the same work," he said.

There are about 28,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers in the state who are working since 1975 under the Integrated Child Development Scheme.