Workers and helpers of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in Uttarakhand are on the warpath following an order from the Women and Child Development (WCD) department directing them to perform “jalabishek” in Siva temples to promote the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign.
The directive was issued on July 26 by Rekha Arya, Minister for Women Empowerment and Child Development, to all ICDS functionaries, especially anganwadi workers and helpers, asking them to perform oblations at the nearest Siva temple with the pledge, “Mujhe bhi janam lene do, Shiv ke maah mein Shakti ka sankalp” (a pledge on behalf of the unborn girl child). All WCD employees were also directed to perform the ritual and publicise it via social media channels.
The Minister told mediapersons in Dehradun that she was going on a 25-kilometre-long “kavad” yatra herself from Har ki Pauri in Hardwar to Rishikesh. The “kavad” yatra, a religious pilgrimage, is undertaken by devotees and followers of Siva. It occurs every year in the July-August period.
The All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers, representing ICDS workers and helpers, criticised the Minister for the order. It said: “Anganwadi workers and helpers belong to various religions and personal beliefs....no government or Minister has any authority to ask them to perform a religious ritual as part of official work.”
Chitra, a federation leader in Uttarakhand, said that the WCD department staff were already annoyed that they had already been allocated “kavad” yatra related duty by the administration. The “jalabishek” was clearly outside the purview of their work.
Speaking to Frontline, she said that six anganwadi workers had accompanied the Minister to collect holy water from the Ganga. “The Minister has a right to have her own religious beliefs but she cannot impose them on government staff via a government order. Assisting in a government campaign is one thing; making government officials take part in a religious activity is quite another thing.”
About the yatra itself, the “kavad” is a bamboo pole that carries equal weights on either side. The weights are mostly little vessels with holy water. The Kawariyas or pilgrims are mostly young men who carry holy water from the Ganga in Haridwar and travel on foot. They holy water is then offered as an oblation to the nearest Siva temple in their respective destinations.
The festival is more common in north and central India and mostly male-dominated. Elaborate arrangements are made by local administrations, private sponsors and individuals for the devotees who often represent districts from their State.
Tents are erected on main routes for the Kawariyas, with food and sleeping arrangements. The law and order enforcement machinery also gets into full swing on the highways, with tight security on the routes as there has been a history of unruly incidents involving devotees.
A common and interesting sight within these tents is the rendition of religious songs and tunes based on popular film tunes. Sometimes the mobile yatris also hire disc jockeys who belt out loud music on busy roads.
The pilgrimage has grown in scale over the years since the 1990s on the back of state patronage and support.
For the first time this year, schools were ordered to shut down and nurseries along the State and national highways were told to remove their wares for a few days. Meat shops in Ghaziabad and Noida districts too were directed not to sell any products from July 14 to July 26.
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