PNS | DEHRADUN
Anganwadi workers have submitted a letter to the Women Empowerment and Child Development (WECD) department, requesting that they should be provided with a pension of at least Rs 5,000 after retirement. The president of the Anganwadi workers association Rekha Negi stated that the matter of granting a pension to Anganwadi workers and assistants has been raised and they expressed gratitude to the State government for considering this issue.
However, she also emphasised that Rs 100 has been deducted from Anganwadi workers’ salaries each month, which is collected in the Women Welfare Fund (WWF). Although they have proposed providing Rs 10 lakh as a lump sum upon retirement, no action has been taken on that front yet, Negi said. She pointed out that the State government claimed there is a provision for offering a pension of Rs 3,000 to Anganwadi workers. However, she highlighted that the government also provides an old-age pension to everyone after they turn 60. In light of this, the suggestion of a Rs 3,000 pension for Anganwadi workers seems contradictory.
Further, Negi noted that since individuals can only receive one benefit at a time from the State government, Anganwadi workers would not be eligible for the old-age pension if they were granted a pension. Regarding this, they wrote a letter to the WECD department and urged the officials concerned to ensure that if they want to provide a pension to Anganwadi workers, it should be at least Rs 5,000 to offer them any significant benefit.
