Maharashtra's Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde said in the legislative assembly that the state is doing the right thing by invoking the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) on Anganwadi workers. Anganwadi services were essential for small children and that is why it was covered under MESMA.
Along with this, she mentioned that the state has agreed to raise the honorarium by ₹1,500.
Earlier, Anganwadi workers used to receive an honorarium of ₹5,000 and henceforth, they will receive an honorarium of ₹6,500.
Under Ekatmik Bal Vikas Seva Yojna, there are 97,475 Anganwadi workers, 97,475 Anganwadi assistant, and 13,011 mini Anganwadi workers. In total, there are 2,07,961 government sanctioned posts.
Munde said that the state has not paid the honorarium for January 2018 to those Anganwadi workers whose bank accounts are not linked to their Aadhaar cards or those who do not have bank accounts. These workers will get the old honorarium of ₹5,000 until March 2018.