Midday meal workers seek regularisation of services

Personnel engaged in preparation of midday meals for schoolchildren staged a demonstration in the city on Wednesday for timely release of pending wages besides demanding regularisation of their services.

This was part of a State-wide agitation by Karnataka State Federation of Midday Meal Workers affiliated to All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).

The workers said their wages for the months of June and July were pending. As per the scheme, the head cooks were supposed to receive ₹2,700 and the assistant cooks, ₹2,600 per month. This was a honorarium and not regular wages and was impossible for the mid-day meal workers to make their ends meet in present times, said the workers.

Hence they urged the government to clear the dues and ensure that wages are released within 5th of every month. Calling for higher monthly wages the federation members also sought a one-time release of ₹5,000 as COVID-19 relief and said this should be on the lines of relief approved for workers in the unorganised sector.

The federation also flayed the practice of terminating the services of workers on attaining the age of 60 and said it should be continued and demanded that two cooks be appointed in each school.

Questioning the practice of centralised cooking and distribution of mid-day meals to schools, the federation also criticised the practice of outsourcing mid-day meals preparation to private entities. The federation demanded implementation of a pension scheme.