The Tripura High Court on Thursday directed the state government to provide gratuity benefits to all Anganwadi workers and helpers after their retirement, a senior lawyer said.
Over 20,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers would benefit from this court order, senior lawyer Purushottam Ray Barman, who fought the case for the Anganwadi workers in the court, said.
He said that Justice Sabyasachi Datta Purkayastha directed the Tripura government to provide gratuity benefits to all retired Anganwadi workers and helpers with interest.
In 2021, the Supreme Court, after hearing a case of Gujarat Anganwadi workers and helpers, had directed the government to provide gratuity benefits to all Anganwadi workers and helpers recognising their crucial role at the grassroots level, Ray Barman told the media after the high court judgement.
In accordance with the apex court ruling, the high court directed the state government to provide gratuity benefits to all Anganwadi workers and helpers without any further delay.
Ray Barman said that after retirement, 20 Anganwadi workers and helpers had filed a case before the High Court last year after they were denied the gratuity benefits by the state government’s Social Education and Social Welfare Department.
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Following the High Court’s directive, 10,000 Anganwadi workers and 10,000 helpers in Tripura would be benefited after retirement, he said.
CPI-M’s trade union body CITU leader Jaya Barman, expressing her happiness over the High Court order, said that the court’s order fulfils one of the long pending demands of the Anganwadi workers and helpers.