Mid-Day Meal Cooks in Dangerpora Protest Over Unpaid Wages, Demand Hike in Honorarium
Baramulla, Aug 11 (JKNS): Around 230 Mid-Day Meal cooks from Zone Dangerpora on Monday staged a protest at the Zonal Education Office, demanding the release of their pending salaries and a substantial increase in their monthly honorarium.
Protesters, as per news agency JKNS, comprising women engaged in preparing meals for government schoolchildren, said they have not been paid for several months, pushing their families into financial distress.
“We work every day to ensure children get their meals on time, but we are left without even our basic earnings,” one of the protesting cooks told JKNS.
The workers also highlighted that even the cooks and safai workers in schools are being paid as low as ₹30 per day — roughly ₹1,000 per month — which they termed as sheer exploitation by government organisations.
The agitating workers demanded that the government revise their wages, calling the current honorarium “meagre and unjust” in view of rising prices. They said that despite repeated appeals, neither the Education Department nor the local administration has addressed their grievances.
Holding placards and raising slogans, the protesters urged the authorities to immediately release their pending dues and bring their wages in line with inflation. They warned of intensifying the agitation if their demands were not met at the earliest. (JKNS)
