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Anganwadi workers face police wrath, 3 hurt
Tribune News Service

Police personnel take an injured anganwadi worker to hospital in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune photograph

Chandigarh, April 10
Three anganwadi workers were injured when the police resorted to lathi charge and fired water canons on them at Sector 16-17 roundabout here this afternoon.

The injured have been identified as Meena from Ludhiana and Surjit Kaur and Kamal from Ferozepur. While Meena suffered a fracture on the hip joint, others sustained minor injuries. All three women were later rushed to the Sector 16 Government Multi Speciality Hospital in a PCR van, as no ambulance was available.

The angry anganwadi workers from across the region were protesting against the inability of the government to release their salaries and other financial benefits, and seek regular employment. As the protestors tried to break the security cordon, which was erected to stop them from marching towards the Vidhan Sabha, the situation got out of control and the police had to resort to a mild lathi charge and fire water cannons to disperse the crowd.

Seven of these workers, including the president of the Anganwadi Mulazim Union, Punjab, Usha Rani, were later arrested and charged under Sections 107 and 151, CrPC.

Earlier, these women had converged outside the office of the director, Social Security, Women and Child Development, Punjab, in Sector 34, at around 11am, and started marching towards the Vidhan Sabha. The situation became normal only after the additional principal secretary to the Punjab Chief Minister, Praveen Kumar, arrived at the scene and received the memorandum from them assuring that their demands would be given a “sympathetic consideration”. He also stated their meeting with the Chief Minister would be arranged within a week.