Mid Day Meal workers decided today to end their agitation until at least November after the state government partially accepted their demands.
The government assured the workers that their honorarium would be enhanced to Rs 3,000 from the current Rs 1,000; the workers were demanding Rs 5,000 per month for 12 months in a year (they are currently only paid for 10 months a year).
However, the government said it would examine the ’12 months’ demand. It also told the workers that it is not possible to provide LPG cylinders to every school under the Mid Day Meal Scheme.
All Jaiñtia Mid Day Meal Workers Union adviser, Khroo L Pariat told reporters that the union is not satisfied with the response they got from the government but decided to ease off on the agitation and go back to work from tomorrow until November.
The demand for LPG is especially for rural schools, where the MDM workers usually have to cook with firewood. The Director of School Education, Ambrose Ch Marak, informed that there are 11,800 schools benefiting from the MDM Scheme and most of them are in rural areas and use firewood to cook.
Even in urban schools, he said that the respective school managing committees provide the LPG cylinders, not the government.
