Ambala: Mid-day meal workers await honorarium for five months

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, March 7

Cooks who are responsible for cooking mid-day meals for children studying at government schools, are struggling to manage their expenses, as they haven’t been paid their cooking honorarium for nearly five months now.

There are about 1,430 cooks in Ambala. The mid-day meal cooks get Rs 7,000 per month of which Rs 600 is contributed by the Centre while Rs 6,400 is paid by the state government. They haven’t been paid since October last year.

The cooks said while their primary job was to cook food for children, they were forced to do additional work too, still they were struggling to get their remuneration.

Lalita, who cooks at a government school, said, “I am yet to get the honorarium for five months and it is getting hard to meet the house expenses. We have requested the officials to get the remuneration released and also submitted memorandums, but we are yet to get the money. There are many mid-day meal workers who are widows and are the only breadwinners in the family and it is getting very difficult for them.”

“Despite not getting any honorarium, we are still working and preparing food for the children, but if the honorarium is not released soon, we will be forced to launch a strike,” said Lalita, who is also the district president of the Mid-Day Meal Workers Union.

Sonia, who also works as a cook, said, “We not only cook, but also serve and clean utensils. We also have bills to pay and buy groceries for our house. The shopkeepers have started asking us to clear the previous dues. ”

Jai Bhagwan, cashier of the state unit of Mid-Day Meal Workers Union, said, “There are around 29,000 mid-day meal workers in Haryana and they are yet to get honorarium for nearly five months. We have repeatedly requested the officials of the Education Department to get their remuneration released and submitted memorandums, but to no avail.”

The District Education Officer, Ambala, Sudhir Kalra, said, “The Centre and the state government contribute their shares in the cooking honorarium. The department has already moved a file to clear the dues and the cooks are expected to receive their honorarium soon.”