Thousands of school cooks from different districts of Bihar held an angry protest in Patna on October 6, demanding payment of six months of pending honorarium, an end to the privatisation of the Midday Meal scheme, removal of NGOs from the scheme and social security for all school cooks. The protest was organised at Gardanibagh under the banner of the Bihar Rajya Vidyalaya Rasoiya Sangh (Bihar State School Cooks’ Union - AICCTU).
When the protesters reached the Gardanibagh protest site, they attempted to open the closed gate, leading to a sharp confrontation with the police deployed there. The protesting school cooks raised slogans demanding payment of their pending honorarium and an end to the government’s move to destroy the Midday Meal scheme and promote private players and NGOs. They demanded an immediate end to the privatisation of the scheme, removal of NGOs from Midday Meals and an end to forcing school cooks to work without payment and live and work like slaves on empty stomachs.
All India Scheme Workers Federation General Secretary and CPIML MLC Shashi Yadav said the government was depriving scheme workers of their rights and attacking the rights of working women school cooks. She demanded that school cooks and all scheme workers be provided social security benefits including ESI, EPF, pension and accident insurance.
CPIML Politburo Member Meena Tiwari strongly attacked the Samrat government, calling it opposed to women’s rights and women’s empowerment. She said that while the government has failed to ensure women’s safety, it is simultaneously attacking the rights of working women such as school cooks and ASHA workers and shutting down every avenue for them to live with dignity.
AICCTU Bihar State General Secretary Ranvijay Kumar accused the government of destroying and privatising the Midday Meal scheme. He said the government has no shortage of funds, yet the honorarium of lakhs of school cooks has been withheld for six months in the name of correcting an app, while the government is simultaneously forcing cooks towards NGOs. He said handing over the Midday Meal scheme to NGOs is an attack on the very existence of school cooks.
Bihar Rajya Vidyalaya Rasoiya Sangh General Secretary Saroj Choubey said the Samrat government has been making school cooks work for six months without payment, like slaves and on empty stomachs. She also called for building a broad campaign for payment of pending honorarium and social security rights and for gheraoing government leaders and representatives over these demands.
The meeting was also addressed by Union leaders including President Vibha Bharti, Vice-President Sonia Gupta, Joint Secretary Dinesh Kushwaha, Mohammad Haider, Poonam Devi, Renu Devi and Gudiya Devi.
