In UP, honorarium of anganwadi workers & helpers hiked, to get cashless treatment up to Rs 5 lakh

The monthly honorarium of anganwadi workers and helpers in Uttar Pradesh has been increased by Rs 4,000 and Rs 2,000, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Tuesday. The honorarium for the anganwadi workers will now be Rs 12,000, while that of helpers will be Rs 6,000, the government said in a statement.

Also, the anganwadi workers, helpers and their families will now get cashless medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh every year, it was announced. The CM also announced plans to make anganwadi centres smart through smartphones and real-time data.

Addressing a felicitation programme in Ayodhya, Adityanath said when the BJP formed government in 2017, anganwadi workers received an honorarium of just Rs 3,000. “The government linked it with a performance-based system and increased it to Rs 8,000.

Now it will be increased to Rs 12,000. The honorarium of helpers was also increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 4,000 earlier and is now being increased to Rs 6,000. Anganwadi workers and helpers played a vital role along with ANMs and ASHA workers during COVID-19 while screening people in villages and serving infected people,” he said.

Now, Rs 500 extra will be provided for an additional saree. The state government will bear an additional burden of around Rs 20 crore for this, he said. In the first phase, 1.28 lakh smartphones have also been provided to the workers, he said, adding that data on schemes can be recorded in real time and their functioning will become easier.

“Over the past nine years, more than 70,000 anganwadi centres in the state have been given an organised structure. The government’s goal is to provide its own buildings to every centre. For this, buildings will be constructed through the State Finance Commission's funds or a separate budget,” he added.

Attacking the previous governments, the Chief Minister stated, “Before 2017, anganwadi centres were dilapidated. Children used to bring mats from their homes to sit on. There was a lack of drinking water and essential equipment.

The Central government provided the money, but a mafia had a stranglehold on nutritional food. A liquor mafia used to operate the nutritional food for children in the state. The government and mafia used to run the system, while anganwadi workers and helpers had to bear the brunt.” Now, nutritional food has been freed from the mafia, and Take Home Ration plants at 204 locations are being operated through women’s self-help groups.” “Both the SP and the Congress opposed the Ram Temple.

The SP even opposed widening of roads in Ayodhya, construction of the railway station and the airport. They are opposed to heritage as well as development. But despite their opposition, neither the Ram Temple campaign stopped nor the development of Ayodhya stopped.

Today, Ramlala is seated in the grand temple and people from the country and the world are witnessing the transformation of Ayodhya,” Adityanath said. Bhupendra Pandey is the Resident Editor of the Lucknow edition of The Indian Express.

With decades of experience in the heart of Uttar Pradesh’s journalistic landscape, he oversees the bureau’s coverage of India’s most politically significant state. His expertise lies in navigating the complex intersections of state governance, legislative policy, and grassroots social movements.

From tracking high-stakes assembly elections to analyzing administrative shifts in the Hindi heartland, Bhupendra’s reportage provides a definitive lens on the region's evolution. Authoritativeness He leads a team of seasoned reporters and investigators, ensuring that The Indian Express’ signature "Journalism of Courage" is reflected in every regional story.

His leadership is central to the Lucknow bureau’s reputation for breaking stories that hold the powerful to account, making him a trusted figure for policy analysts, political scholars, and the general public seeking to understand the nuances of UP’s complex landscape.

Trustworthiness & Accountability Under his stewardship, the Lucknow edition adheres to the strictest standards of factual verification and non-partisan reporting. He serves as a bridge between the local populace and the national discourse, ensuring that regional issues are elevated with accuracy and context.

By prioritizing primary-source reporting and on-the-ground verification, he upholds the trust that readers have placed in the Express brand for nearly a century. ... Read More