‘We get peanuts in the name of salary’: MDM cooks
Srinagar: Hundreds of Mid-Day Meal (MDM) cooks from scores of Government schools across Kashmir on Tuesday staged a protest seeking better work conditions and emoluments.
The protesting female cooks threatened to intensify their strike if their demand for hike in monthly wages is not fulfilled.
The protesting cooks demanded hike in their salaries and regularisation of their jobs saying that they are paid only Rs 1000 per month for cooking and serving MDM among school children up to class 8th.
“We don’t only cook and serve MDM but have to clean the school premises and undertake other jobs in the premises,” the protesting MDM cooks said.
They demanded that their salaries be hiked to at least Rs 10,000 per month as per minimum wages rule.
“We have been working in schools since inception of the scheme in J&K state and since then our wages have not been hiked above Rs 1000,” they said.
The cooks said that their honorarium is never released on time and apart from cooking meals, they clean the school, take children to washrooms and do other jobs on the meagre wages.
According to Mid-day Meal (MDM) scheme, cooks should get concrete kitchen sheds to cook but government’s failure of providing them concrete place has added to their problems. Some manage to cook in the classrooms while others cook in the premises using fire wood.
“The job is too cumbersome but the government is paying us peanuts after hard labour we put in,” the protesting MDM cooks said.
The cooks had jointly staged protest with the Anganwadi helpers, contractual teachers and seasonal employees of various departments under the banner of Employees Joint Action Committee Revolutionary (EJACR).
The protesting employees demanded amendments in SR0520 and SRO-30-GAD of 2019 which they said was against the interests of poor daily wagers, consolidated, contractual and college local fund employees besides other need-base casual laborers and helpers.
The protesting employees demanded continuation of contractual teachers who are on strike since last several months and urged the government for continuing services of contractual 10+2 lecturers. They also demanded removal of pay anomalies of clerical grades and amendment in SR0-333.
The protestors also demanded removal of pay anomaly of masters, leave salary and leave encashment in favour of teaching community and inclusion of 15 years of service w.e.f 1991 to 2006 of migrant substitute employees in their service records for promotion benefits in the analogy of FATs teachers.
KV Correspondent
