Ludhiana, Dec. 9 -- Anganwadi workers and helpers staged a massive protest near Gill Road on Monday, over extremely low wages and stagnant Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) budget.

Workers highlighted the extremely low honorarium they receive which is Rs.4,500 per month for anganwadi workers and Rs.2,250 for helpers, that have not been raised since 2018 despite steep inflation. They pointed out that the Centre has not implemented the Supreme Court's 2022 order mandating gratuity payments to anganwadi workers, nor the Gujarat High Court's directive for regularisation.

They also expressed fury over what they called the Centre's "unnecessary conditions" like the facial recognition system (FRS), slashing of beneficiary lists and ...