T Harish Rao
Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T Harish Rao on Tuesday, May 20 urged the Telangana government to release hiked salaries for mini Anganwadi workers in the state.
Rao criticised the Congress government for not paying the salaries of the mini Anganwadi workers for 2024. In a letter to Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy, the Siddipet MLA demanded that the government pay salaries as per the increased pay grade and also credit the arrears into their accounts immediately.
Rao accused the Telangana government of political opportunism, highlighting that 3,989 mini Anganwadi workers who were serving in the most remote rural and tribal belts were subjected to financial and emotional hardship due to erratic policy implementation.
The former Telangana finance minister stressed that the BRS government had issued orders upgrading mini Anganwadis to Anganwadi status in September 2023, but implementation was stalled due to the election code.
Rao claimed that the Congress government merely the same order in December 2023 for political mileage. After briefly paying a hiked salary of Rs 13,650 for three months, the government reverted to the old mini Anganwadi pay scale of Rs 7,800 from April 2024 onward.
“Which government reduces an increased salary? How can the government justify it?” he asked. The BRS MLA stated that confusion continues, as the government reissued the old GO in April this year. Yet, the enhanced salaries were disbursed only in eight districts this May.
“Mini Anganwadi workers are not campaign tools. They are grassroots workers serving the poorest. It is absurd to make them suffer financially and emotionally,” he remarked.
He demanded that increased salaries to mini Anganwadi workers be paid retrospectively from January 2024, with helpers appointed immediately wherever needed.
This post was last modified on May 20, 2025 1:49 pm