Ambala, January 21:- Mid-day meal workers will participate in the country-wide strike demanding permanent employment and 12 months' salary. Protesting the continuous neglect of their demands by the central and state governments, the workers have decided to abstain from cooking food in schools across the state on February 12. A delegation led by union president Lalita Khanna and secretary Sonia formally informed the District Elementary Education Officer about this demand in his office today.
On this occasion, a pamphlet outlining the demands of the strike was also released, which will be circulated to each worker through block-level meetings. The notice submitted to the District Magistrate prominently mentions the demands for regularisation of the services of mid-day meal workers, minimum wage of Rs 30,000 and provision of retirement benefits.
Apart from this, there is a demand for withdrawal of the National Education Policy 2020 due to which schools have been closed, and also for repeal of four labour codes which are anti-labour and anti-project workers.
Addressing the press, CITU State Secretary Satish Sethi said that the workers get only Rs 7,000 per month as honorarium. Out of this, Rs 6,000 is contributed by the state government and Rs 1,000 by the central government. This meagre honorarium is given for only ten months in a year. Apart from this, it is also not paid on time and if it is paid, it comes in installments.
The situation has now reached such an extent that the central government's share has not been received for the last five months. Similarly, the December honorarium has also not been deposited in the bank accounts of the workers. In these circumstances, the workers are facing a lot of difficulties in managing their homes. He further said that the central government has not increased its share by a single rupee in the last 11 years despite the rapid increase in inflation.
Comrade Sethi said that on January 12, mid-day meal workers had protested at the head office of the education department in Panchkula to press for these demands. Under the pressure of the protests, the director had issued strict instructions to the district officials that the workers should be prohibited from doing any work other than preparing mid-day meal for the children. However, these instructions have not been implemented in the district yet.
Apart from this, the promise of increase in salary and uniform allowance for 15 days in January has also not been fulfilled. Due to this, there is a lot of resentment among the workers towards the government and the department. Therefore, the departmental officials should take immediate action. On this occasion, Santosh Saha, Seema, Jasbir, Neena, Usha, Saroj, and Sarva Karamkar Sangh President Inder Singh Badhana, Secretary Vikas Verma, Treasurer Ravinder Sharma and President Lalita Khanna were also present.