Hundreds of mid-day meal workers from across Himachal Pradesh staged a massive protest outside the State Secretariat in Shimla on Monday, demanding a halt to the retrenchment of workers on the pretext of centralised kitchens.
The workers gathered at the Talland area before marching to the Secretariat, raising slogans against both the state and central governments. They demanded a monthly salary of Rs 7,000 on the lines of Haryana, timely payment of wages, EPF, ESI, gratuity, pension, employee compensation, 20 days of casual leave, two uniforms annually, abolition of the condition requiring a minimum of 25 students for engaging a worker, extension of the scheme up to Class 12 and priority in the recruitment of multi-task workers.
Addressing the rally, Dr Kashmir Singh Thakur, National Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), alleged that anti-worker policies of the central and state governments were threatening the livelihoods of thousands of workers. He said measures such as weakening the mid-day meal scheme, merging schools, shutting down schools, introducing cluster schemes and promoting centralised kitchens had put workers’ jobs at risk.
State President of the Mid-Day Meal Workers Union, Sandeep Kumar, said the Himachal Pradesh High Court had delivered a “historic” ruling directing that mid-day meal workers be paid salaries for 12 months instead of 10. He noted that the verdict had been upheld by both the single and division benches of the court.
“Despite this, the state government has approached the Supreme Court instead of implementing the order,” Kumar said. He added that the condition requiring a minimum of 25 students for the engagement of one worker, along with school mergers, cluster schemes, central kitchens, contracting and privatisation of the scheme through NGOs, had heightened fears of job losses among workers.
Kumar said around 21,000 mid-day meal workers were currently employed in the state but received an honorarium of only Rs 5,000 per month, including Rs 1,000 contributed by the Centre, and that too for only 10 months in a year. He further alleged that the central government had not increased the honorarium for the past 17 years.
Following the protest, a delegation of the union submitted a memorandum to the state government through the Chief Secretary, pressing for the fulfilment of their demands. The Chief Secretary assured the delegation that a meeting between the Education Minister and union representatives would be arranged soon.
The union, however, warned of intensifying its agitation if the government failed to address its demands.
