No festival allowance for child protection staff this year too

Contract staff of the State Child Protection Society and Child Helpline under the Centrally-sponsored scheme Mission Vatsalya being implemented by the Women and Child Development department in the State have not been sanctioned Onam allowance this year too.

Similar to last year, contract staff involved in child protection in all districts and those working with Child Helpline have not been sanctioned the Onam festival allowance, though staff under the Sarana Balyam and Our Responsibility to Children projects that are fully State sponsored and under the same department have been sanctioned the funds, it is pointed out.

Last year, when the staff under Mission Vatsalya were denied the Onam festival allowance, they expected it to be sanctioned later. After an appeal, their demand was rejected on the grounds that sanctioning them festival allowance at a time of financial crunch could lead contract staff under other Centrally-sponsored schemes to claim the allowance too, creating an additional financial burden for the State.

To their dismay, other Centrally-sponsored scheme workers such as ASHA, anganwadi, and midday meal cooks will get the festival allowance, not to mention government employees, teachers, pensioners, workers in various sector, and Haritha Karma Sena members have all been sanctioned the festival allowance.

Child protection staff highlight the importance of their work since they deal with care and protection of vulnerable children and have a heavy workload. However, their pay and benefits are often delayed.

The staff said they number only around 400, and sanctioning them festival allowance for Onam would hardly put additional burden on the government.