Thousands of midday meal cooks stage protests on streets of Dhubri

Dhubri, Dec 23: The All Assam Mid-Day Meal Employees Union staged a massive protest against the state government on Friday in Dhubri district, demanding better wages and working conditions for the midday meal cooks across the state.

The protesters marched to Raja Prabhat Chandra Baruah Playground holding placards and banners that highlighted their five-point charter of demands. They also raised slogans against the government and the education department for neglecting their plight.

Their demands include a monthly remuneration of Rs. 10,000, salary for 12 months of the year, social security measures such as regular payments, pensions, and insurance, a one-time compensation of Rs. 3 lakh to the families of the midday meal cooks who died recently, and cancellation of the privatisation of the midday meal scheme.

They warned that if their demands were not met, they would intensify their agitation at the state secretariat in Dispur.

"We have been working as midday meal cooks for more than a decade, but we are still paid a meagre amount of Rs. 1,500 per month, which is not enough to meet our basic needs. We have not received any salary for the last six months. We have no job security, no social security, no health insurance, and no pension. We are treated as bonded labourers by the government and the education department," said one of the workers.

She added that the government's move to privatise the midday meal scheme will affect the quality and quantity of the food served to the students, as well as the livelihood of the midday meal cooks. "We will not allow the government to hand over the midday meal scheme to private contractors or NGOs. We demand that the government should regularise our services and pay us according to the minimum wages act," she said.