According to the anganwadi workers, the government introduced this as a pilot project in 175 zilla panchayath consisting of 1,500 anganwadis. In one place where 25 kids were attending anganwadis, all 20 kids shifted to kindergarten and only five kids were left in the anganwadi center. Varalakshmi along with other workers have tried to have discussions with the government but nothing has been changed. She adds, "Not just this new rule of merging the anganwadis with schools, but our salaries are also very low. We are paid Rs 8,000 per month. Last time, when we protested to make our jobs permanent and increase our salaries, the government sent a circular that the salaries have to be increased to Rs 10,000 but it is only on papers and not in reality. Besides this, there is no security for our jobs. We are treated as honorarium workers which means we come to work voluntarily. There is no pension or any provident fund given to us by the state or central government. Under the National Pension System-Lite, every month, we have to save Rs 150 in our accounts and the states add Rs 150 more to it." In case if the state government doesn't change its decision, then the anganwadi workers will be holding a Jata on December 10. More than one lakh workers will walk from Tumakuru to Bengaluru and the protest will go on until their demands are fulfilled.
