Mid-day meal cooks protest, seek hike, release of monthly honorarium
Budgam, Jul 22 (KNO): Scores of women working as mid-day meal cooks in government schools staged a protest on Monday at the Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) office in Chadoora and Narbal area of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, demanding an immediate revision of their salaries.
The protesters as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), who were engaged under the PM Poshan Scheme, expressed strong resentment over receiving a monthly salary of just Rs 1000 for several years.
They said despite putting in full-day work to prepare meals for students, their wages have remained stagnant and insufficient.
“We used to receive RS 1000 a month, but for quite some time now, even that has stopped. If we have been working all along, why are we suddenly being treated so unfairly?” the protesters questioned.
“This amount is an insult to our hard work. We come early and leave late, yet we are paid only Rs 1000 a month. It’s impossible to survive on this,” said one of the protesting women while speaking to KNO.
The cooks accused authorities of turning a blind eye to their long-standing demands. They also alleged that even elected governments have failed to address their issues.
The protestors appealed to the Lieutenant Governor’s administration and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene and ensure a fair hike in their monthly wages—(KNO)
