Midday meal workers stage protest

Midday meal workers staging a demonstration in Dharwad on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Seeking hike in the honorarium, release of pending honorarium and to press for various other demands, scores of midday meal workers staged a demonstration in Dharwad on Friday.

Staging the demonstration under the aegis of ‘Karnataka Rajya Samyukta Akshara Dasoha Karmikara Sangha’ affiliated to AIUTUC before the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad, the protesters demanded fulfilment of their demands.

Addressing the protestors, State president of the sangha A. Shantha said that although the midday meal workers were the backbone of the ‘Akshara Dasoha’ scheme from the last 22 years, their honorarium was not given in time.

“In all 1,15,586 midday meal makers including 47,250 cooks, 71,336 cooking assistants have been serving under the scheme in the State. Although they have meagre wages, it is not being paid on a timely basis and sometimes it is paid after three months. They are not entitled to any service incentives and are being made work like ‘D’ group employees,” she said.

She said because of the continued agitation of the Sangha, the government was now paying an amount of ₹40,000 to midday meal workers above the age of 60 who had completed 15 years of service. However, several midday meal workers were left out of the benefit because of various technical reasons and the sangha would urge the government to extend the benefit to such workers also, she said.

District president Bhuvana Ballari emphasised the need for regularising the services of the midday meal workers as their work was perennial in nature and they should be provided the benefits extended to regular workers. She also demanded that minimum daily wages should be extended to the midday meal workers too.

The protesters subsequently submitted a memorandum of their twelve demands to the district authorities. District secretary Uma Hiremath, Gouramma Guddadamani, and others led the protest.