New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday announced an increase in the honorarium for the state’s 2.91 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers.The honorarium for Anganwadi workers will be increased from Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000, while that for helpers will rise from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per month. Along with this, workers, helpers and their families will be provided cashless treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh every year. They will also now receive three sarees instead of two. Yogi also announced plans to make Anganwadi centres smart through smartphones and real-time data.The announcements were made in his address at a felicitation ceremony for Anganwadi workers and helpers organised under the Integrated Child Development Services at Ayodhya Dham. He addressed around 12,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers who were present in Ayodhya.Yogi said that when the government was formed in 2017, Anganwadi workers received an honorarium of merely 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,” he said.Read more - Bijli, Sadak, Pani: UP BJP bets on BSP; orders road repairs & development worksFor the past few months, Adityanath has been on a mission to woo women voters across the state in the run-up to the upcoming assembly elections.In August, he announced an increase in the honorarium for 3.54 lakh ‘Rasoiya Behene’ (women cooks) who prepare meals under the Mid-Day Meal scheme in schools. Their monthly honorarium was increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000, along with cashless healthcare coverage of Rs 5 lakh for their families.Ahead of Raksha Bandhan in August, the UP chief minister announced that 50,000 female undergraduate students would be given scooters in October-November. For elderly women, he announced free bus travel on UP State Road Transport Corporation buses under the ‘Lokmata Ahilyabai Matrushakti Yatra’ scheme.There are approximately 12.5 crore women in Uttar Pradesh, making this voter group crucial for the upcoming assembly elections. Adityanath has been announcing schemes in a phased manner to cater to this sizeable and politically significant voter group.