In a move which has sent shock waves across the country, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has criminalised dissent and the idea of peaceful protests by booking anganwadi workers under charges of sedition when they demanded a better deal from the government.

In Sitapur district, over 90 kms from the state capital Lucknow, four anganwadi workers had been active in organising protest demonstrations on their demands including an increase in their honorarium and regularisation of their jobs.

The Uttar Pradesh police charged Neetu Singh, Sarita Verma, Manju Vanshwar and Santosh Kumari with the stringent IPC section 121A (conspiring to wage, or attempt to wage war, or abet waging of war against the government of India). They were arrested and sent to 14-days of judicial custody.