Anganwadi workers and assistants across several districts of southern Tamil Nadu staged large-scale protests on Tuesday, 6 January 2026, demanding the fulfilment of long-pending promises made in the 2021 Assembly election manifesto, including recognition as government employees, time-scale pay, and enhanced retirement benefits. The protests led to traffic disruptions and the detention of nearly 3,000 workers across multiple districts.

In Dindigul, anganwadi workers and assistants gathered near the Dindigul bus stand and attempted a road blockade to press their nine-point charter of demands. The protesters demanded that anganwadi workers and assistants be officially declared government employees, be granted time-scale pay as promised, and be provided a minimum pension. They also sought a gratuity of ₹10 lakh for anganwadi workers and ₹5 lakh for assistants, along with a 30-day summer holiday in May every year, similar to benefits extended to teachers.

The protesters said these assurances had been announced as election promises but were not reflected in the recent budget, prompting them to escalate their agitation into a second phase of protests in the form of road blockades.

As police denied permission for the road roko, heated arguments broke out at the protest site. Despite restrictions, the anganwadi workers climbed over barricades and sat on the road, disrupting traffic for over an hour in the area. Following this, police detained around 1,000 protesters in Dindigul for participating in the road blockade without permission.

Parallel protests were held in other districts as well. Anganwadi workers and assistants affiliated to Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) staged a road roko in front of the Anna Bus Stand in Thoothukudi. The protest was presided over by CITU state vice-president Russel. Police detained 1,056 protesters at the Thoothukudi agitation and later took them to a private marriage hall.

In Tirunelveli district, anganwadi workers blocked vehicular traffic at Vannarpet, leading to the arrest of 401 protesters. In Kanniyakumari district, more than 800 protesters were detained after staging a road roko near the Anna Bus Stand in Nagercoil. Similar agitations were reported from Tenkasi, where police detained over 500 anganwadi workers and assistants.

The protesters reiterated that anganwadi workers and assistants should be brought under time-scale pay and formally recognised as government employees, as promised by the ruling DMK in its 2021 election manifesto. They also demanded a minimum monthly pension of ₹9,000 and enhanced gratuity benefits upon retirement.

Police officials said the detainees were released later in the evening after the protests were called off. The anganwadi workers, however, warned that protests would continue if the government failed to address their demands.

In 2025, Anganwadi workers tried to reach out to DMK MP Kanimozhi over the unfulfilled poll promises, but to no avail.

Source: The Hindu

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The post Dravidian Model: After Sanitary Workers, Nurses, And Teachers, Now Anganwadi Workers Stage Protests Over Unfulfilled 2021 Poll Promises; Nearly 3,000 Detained appeared first on The Commune.

A welfare distribution event organized by the DMK’s Tirunelveli unit turned chaotic as Anganwadi workers confronted Thoothukudi DMK MP Kanimozhi over the party’s unfulfilled election promise of granting them permanent jobs.

The event, held at the DMK district secretary’s office, saw around 300 Anganwadi workers in attendance. Reports suggest they were allegedly compelled to participate and made to wait for several hours before Kanimozhi arrived. When she eventually distributed sarees and blankets to just a handful of workers and prepared to leave, frustration boiled over.

A large group of workers surrounded her car, demanding answers about the DMK’s pledge to make their positions permanent. Kanimozhi briefly responded, saying, “The Chief Minister will take action,” but left without further engagement.

Many workers reportedly rejected the gifts in protest, stating they had been made to wait an entire day for what they saw as a token gesture instead of meaningful action. The incident has sparked criticism, with observers calling it a public relations misstep for the ruling party.

The confrontation follows Kanimozhi’s participation in the Porunai Book Festival and a DMK public meeting in Tirunelveli earlier that evening.

Speaking to reporters earlier, an anganwadi worker said, “They promised that we will be made permanent and also said that they have given this in their manifesto. Till date no step to enable this has been taken. They asked us all to attend this event, but we are not sure why they asked us to? Are we without sarees? We have thousands of sarees but we have come here to place our request but no one listened to us. They have not appointed people, there is a staff shortage and we are working with that. At one centre, I have 37 children to take care of. There is no helper, parents are asking us what we are teaching them, with no help, I have to do everything, what do I focus on first? I have not be able to focus on anything and have become depressed, I wonder whether I must even do this work. Ok. you have given us sarees, but you have not kept your promise, that is all we ask. First give us a salary hike. We have given petitions countless times, we even met CM Stalin but no heed was paid to our requests. You are not listening to our problem. Today, we were all told by the office to come here, they said they are giving saree and bedsheets – do you think we cannot afford to buy them? They said Kanimozhi madam is giving these. They are calling it a scheme for us, but you are not giving us what we need. We can buy 1000s of sarees and bedsheets. But please solve our problems first, we dont even have a basic salary. We are working as part-time workers. When they came to power, they said the anganwadi workers are suffering and your salaries are low, they said they will be like our brothers and sisters, but nothing has happened. We are still the same. There is no one to even ask us anything. Even if we retire, there is no pension benefit. We are working as part-time workers, that is our situation.”

When empty promises backfire:
DMK’s Tirunelveli unit staged a curious stunt. About 300 Anganwadi workers were allegedly forced to attend the party event with women’s wing chief K Kanimozhi. Arriving late, she doled out saris and bedsheets to a few, then fled. Workers swarmed her… pic.twitter.com/w8cF3gYZDL

— Thinakaran Rajamani (@thinak_) February 10, 2025

However, it is the Anganwadi workers’ agitation that has drawn attention, highlighting growing discontent over the government’s failure to implement key election promises.

(With inputs from Dinamalar)

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The post ‘We Have 1000s Of Sarees, But No Salary Hike’: Anganwadi Workers Confront DMK MP Kanimozhi Over Unfulfilled Promises appeared first on The Commune.