New Delhi, Jan 22: More than 70,000 primary and middle schools in Bihar are witnessing an indefinite strike by 2.18 lakh cooks engaged with the Midday Meal Scheme (MDM). This has resulted in shutting down government lunch at schools, which has brought down attendance of the students.
The cooks have been demanding an increase in their wages which is Rs. 1,250 per month at present. They have cited labour law violations and referred to examples of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu where the monthly wage to MDM cooks is Rs. 4,000.
Indefinite strike commenced on January 7
An indefinite strike has been called by these cooks, who are engaged in part-time contract jobs, since January 7 demanding wage payment on a yearly basis as opposed to the present ten working months wage system.
Protests at blocks and district offices have been lodged by them. A strike by them is called under the banner of Bihar Rajya Madhyan Bhojan Rasoiya Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, which is being supported by trade unions – Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) and All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU). The association said that the cooks had to work for six to eight hours daily and getting only Rs. 1,250 amounted to “violation of the labour law”.
“Over the past few years, the salary of contract teachers and an honorarium of ASHA have gone up. We are the only group whose wages have not increased. Ours is not a part-time job,” Asha Kumari, a member of the cooks association from Munger, has been quoted as saying to a national daily.
Attendance has gone down by 10-20%
RK Singh, a teacher at a primary school in Banka district, informed that the attendance of students in the school has dropped by ten to twenty per cent. . “We are under pressure to look for alternatives, which are not easily possible,” he told a news daily.
However, Jeevendra Jha, Deputy Director, MDM, said, “MDM is a central government scheme. We are paying a cook Rs. 250 per month and the Centre gives each cook Rs 1,000 per month. We have been writing to the Centre for some time about the cooks’ demands. We hope it is taken up by Centre in its next cabinet meeting”.
When the media asked him why Bihar cannot boost its contribution, he replied, “Let the Centre take its call first. We cannot commit anything at this stage.” He further said that any initiatives had not taken by the state government for ending the deadlock.