STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The mid-day meal cooks of the primary and upper primary schools have not getting full remuneration for the last 7 months. There are about 1.18 lakh cooks, and according to rules, they should be getting Rs 1500 as remuneration per month, but instead they are getting Rs 1000 for the last seven months.
All Assam Primary and Upper Primary School PM-POSHAN Workers' Association demanded that the government should release their unpaid dues, and if this is not fulfilled, they will be staging a protest on September 11 in Guwahati. The association will be protesting in demand that they should get a full 12-month salary instead of a 10-month. The workers should be given appointment letters and have their jobs regularized.
The midday meal scheme was introduced on August 15, 1995, by the Indian Government for the better nutritional standing of schoolchildren. The scheme was implemented in Assam in 2005. This scheme is now known as Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-POSHAN).
The association said, "Since 2005 to November 2009, the cooks under this scheme were working for very little remuneration. But in 2009, their dues were increased by the Assam government to Rs 100 and the Central government to Rs 900, adding up to a total of Rs 1000. But with time, these workers demanded a hike in their pay, and in 2021, the government increased their pay to Rs 500. And with this, they get a monthly pay of Rs 1500. But still, since the last seven months, the workers have been getting only Rs 1000. The association has said that they do not get a 12-month salary but only 10 months."
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