Anganwadi workers, accompanied by male members of their family, take out the protest rally in Patna on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Rallies are a family affair, often. The city was witness to two such traffic-stopper demonstrations of women on Monday, the first working day of the week.

One of the rallies was of anganwadi workers. The other was of Accredited Social Health Activists (Asha). The demand of both was the same: better wages. And male members of families chipped in for the cause of most women in the rallies.

Several sympathetic hubbies and responsible fathers-in-law accompanied the demonstrators from far-flung areas to the city, adding to the strength of the rallies. But make no mistake. Hardly any male members did give their work a miss. The reason being, most of them are without proper jobs and bank on the women’s wages for two square meals.

Meet 35-five-year-old Bhulan Dubey. A dutiful husband, he came all the way from Bettiah in West Champaran, around 200km north of Patna, just to be with his wife in the rally.

The man, for some strange reasons, did not like to be called by his name.

“I am an anganwadi pati (husband). My wife Mamta Devi is an anganwadi worker at Majhaulia block in West Champaran. Today (Monday) there is a rally of anganwadi and Asha workers and I am here to support them,” he said.

After a brief pause, he said: “There are many like my wife who get an honorarium of just Rs 1,500 per month irregularly. In 2009, the sum was increased from Rs 750 to Rs 1,500. Thereafter, there has been no hike. We want the honorarium to be at least Rs 5,000.”

Asked about his profession, Dubey remained silent for a while. After some time, he muttered: “I am a farmer.”

Dubey was one of the several male members accompanying the women in the two rallies, triggering traffic chaos in the state capital. The entire stretch from Gandhi Maidan to the R-Block, including busy areas like Dakbungalow roundabout and Station Road, remained chock-a-block. The Asha and anganwadi workers marched to the R-Block shouting anti-government slogans.

Each rally was 300-women-strong. Both sparked frustration among the motorists from 11am to 1pm.

The strength of the rallies doubled because of the male members in company of the demonstrators. A talk with some of them, mostly hubbies, revealed that the protest was important for them because they were dependent on their wives’ pay packets for a living.

Fifty-year-old Pramod Choubey, a resident of Bettiah, was wandering along the R-Block with his wife, an accredited social health worker, raising slogans for better wages.

“I am an Asha pati. My wife Jayanti Devi is an Asha at Majhaulia block in West Champaran. She gets a very low honorarium. We demand that all workers like her should be given a fixed salary and commission. There have been many rallies earlier and I accompanied her,” he said.

When asked about his profession, Choubey looked embarrassed. “I am a home guard. But at present I am not posted anywhere. Usi ke paise se ghar chalta hai (The house runs with her money),” he said.

“A bit of traffic jam in the city makes no difference. The government should do something for my wife,” he said.

Not very far away, forty-year-old Surya Mangal Pandey was loitering aimlessly. “My daughter-in-law Anuradha is an anganwadi worker at the Sikta block of West Champaran. My son Suraj and I accompany her to rallies. Suraj has come with me. He should be there somewhere,” he said.

Asked why he was also not raising slogans, Pandey said: “That is not my job. There are so many women to do it. Besides, I am a BJP worker and cannot give anti-government slogans. But my daughter-in-law’s demands should be fulfilled,” he said, smiling.

Pandey’s smile vanished when asked about his income. Fuming, he said: “That’s none of your business. She (Anuradha) contributes to the family and it is required.”