Midday meal staff to go on strike, No salaries paid by the government

Udupi: Up to 2000 mid-day meal personnel employed in the Udupi district are set to cease their duties on November 7 and November 8 to participate in a demonstration in front of the Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru. They are advocating for equitable compensation and improved working conditions. Speaking to the media, Jayashree Paduvari, head of the Udupi district branch of the midday meal employees' association, disclosed that they currently receive an honorarium of Rs 3,700 per month for cooks and Rs 3,600 per month for assistants. However, according to statutory regulations and industry standards, the minimum monthly wage should be Rs 15,000.

Jayashree Paduvari also mentioned that the meagre honorarium is often not paid on time, and since August, no payments have been made. Moreover, these cooks and their assistants lack medical benefits and do not receive gratuity upon completing their service. Additionally, in certain schools, a single cook is left to manage the kitchen, with no helper assigned, citing a reduction in student numbers below 100. During their protest at the Vidhan Soudha, they will also demand that the government mandate the provision of two staff members for each school to ensure coverage when staff members require leave due to illness.

Sunanda, the association's general secretary, noted that when the mid-day meal program began in 2001-02, it only involved cooking rice and sambar (vegetable stew). However, the menu has expanded over time to include the boiling of milk and eggs, increasing the workload for mid-day meal personnel, who continue to receive meagre compensation.

She further underscored that governments, despite their rhetoric on women's empowerment, often fail to acknowledge the hard work performed by women staff involved in the mid-day meal program. The mid-day meal staff will return to their duties in Udupi on November 9 following their two-day protest in Bengaluru.