Thousands of midday meal workers stage protest, Golaghat

A Correspondent

SARUPATHAR: A massive protest staged by the midday meal workers on Monday garnered support from several Leftist trade unions like CITU.

“Few years ago we had to feed children bread and a glass of milk. Now that children are given meals every day, our work has increased but our salary is only Rs 1,000,” said some midday meal workers.

Moreover, CITU dist rict secretary of Golaghat, Prakesh Hazarika was present in the protest and he said, “The government pays an honorarium to the poor workers who work till 3 pm every day in the schools. They prepare food and clean the utensils. They deserve much more than Rs 1,000 a month. It is unjust not to pay them proper wages,” he said.

A draft prepared by the education department under the Human Resource and Development ministry, had proposed to double the honorarium and provide it year round instead of just for 10 months. But the proposal was rejected by the HRD ministry. This is not the first time that midday workers have protested. The trade unions supporting the midday meal workers have proposed to give them employment status and minimum wages not less than Rs 18,000 per month and social security, including monthly pension.