Why Delhi's anganwadi workers are fighting for higher pay, social security

Anganwadi workers work overtime, and keep critical health and nutrition programmes running, even as they are paid little, receive no social security, or adequate protection from the Covid-19 pandemic

It took four visits to one house, during the second wave of Covid-19, for 42-year-old Avantika Giri to convince a family to get their child to the dispensary for routine vaccinations. An anganwadi worker for 14 years, Avantika travelled in buses at her own cost, often working overtime, for a pay of Rs 9,709 in Johripur, East Delhi.

The working hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but "I never went home before 5 p.m. in those months. Sometimes, I took my baby son along with me on rounds, even though I knew there were Covid patients in some of the