Raise Anganwadi Issues In Assembly: Harish Rao

Representatives of the Telangana Anganwadi Teachers and Helpers Association met Harish Rao at his camp office in Siddipet and submitted a memorandum highlighting their problems. They alleged that the Congress had failed to fulfil the promises made to them during the elections and requested him to press the government to address their legitimate demands.

Speaking on the occasion, Harish Rao criticised what he described as the deceptive attitude of the Congress government. He said the Congress had promised a minimum salary of ₹18,000 for Anganwadi teachers in its election manifesto but had not fulfilled the promise even after nearly two and a half years in power.

He questioned the government about the status of the promised minimum wages and job security. He also recalled that during the BRS government led by K. Chandrashekar Rao, Anganwadi workers received some of the highest salary hikes in the country.

Harish Rao demanded that the government immediately resolve the ten major issues faced by Anganwadi workers. He suggested that Anganwadi teachers should be officially recognised as pre-primary teachers and that pre-primary education should be conducted through Anganwadi centres.

He said the establishment of new pre-primary schools in government schools was weakening the Anganwadi system, which has been serving people for decades. He asked the government to clarify the difference between pre-primary schools set up in government schools and the Anganwadi system.

He also questioned whether GO Ms. No. 8, which increased retirement benefits to ₹2 lakh for teachers and ₹1 lakh for helpers, was actually being implemented. If so, he demanded that the government release a white paper stating how many beneficiaries had received the benefits so far.

Harish Rao further demanded that helpers promoted to teacher posts be paid the full teacher salary and that vacant posts be filled immediately. Considering the severe summer heat, he urged the government to run Anganwadi centres for only half a day from the 15th of this month and implement the Take-Home Ration system while announcing summer holidays.

He also suggested that the government provide new mobile phones to Anganwadi workers for online reporting and resolve technical issues in the NHTS and Poshan Tracker applications by merging them into a single app.

Additionally, he demanded that the budget for Arogya Lakshmi scheme bills be increased in line with rising market prices and that Anganwadi workers should not be burdened with duties from other departments, such as BLO work.

Harish Rao assured the workers that he would raise their demands in the upcoming Assembly sessions and hold the government accountable.