Midday Meal Workers Protest, Demand Increased Wages, Social Security

“We make midday meals, and feed several others. Who will feed me and my family?” questioned Rohini Bhosale, who has travelled for over four days to come from Nanded in Maharashtra to Delhi, to participate in the protest that was attended by over 2,000 midday mean workers on November 19.

Nanda Hanuman, another worker, said, “Main do saal se school main khichdi bananeka kaam karti hoon. Hazaar rupaye main doosron ko poshan dete hai aur hum khud kuposhit horahe hai. main Modiji se poochti hoon kya woh 1000 rupaye main mahina guzaar sakte hai? (I have been making lentil-rice porridge in the school from last two years. They are giving us Rs 1000 to give nourishment to others, while we remain malnourished ourselves. I ask Mr Modi, can anyone survive for a month with the meagre amount of Rs 1,000?”

Speaking to Newsclick, A. R. Sindhu, the general secretary of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH), said, “The struggle of the scheme-based, especially midday meal workers, has been going on for a while now. The immediate trigger of the protest was the increased honourarium the prime minister decided to award to the Anganwadi and ASHA workers. The midday meal workers have been neglected yet again. During the 2013 labour conference, the government had given a written assurance that the demands of these workers will be considered. However, it has only betrayed those promises.”

Over 20 lakh workers across multiple states are employed under the ambitious project of midday meals. Echoing their plight, a number of workers blamed the increasing privatisation of the scheme. Many accuse the Modi government of making cuts in the allocation to several social schemes, so as to aid the corporates. “There is a clear nexus between the bigger corporates such as Akshay Patra Foundation, the Nandi Foundation and the government,” alleged Sindhu.

The protest was supported by all central trade unions – CITU, AITUC, AICCTU and TUCC among others. Demands of the protesters included an increased wage of Rs 18,000 per month and social security benefits.

Most people working under the scheme are women, belonging to marginalised sections of the society. Trajakumari from Telangana said, “Many workers are widowed women, or are the women who are singlehandedly running their households, but they are treated badly, and are paid peanuts. We are the ones who come to the schools early, and open the gates. We are the last ones to leave. We are even asked to clean the toilets. After all of this, I get Rs 1000 per month, which is also delayed by six months to say the least.”

Commenting on an instance from September when female workers were beaten up in Jharkhand for protesting, Sonia Devi, a midday meal worker from the state, said, “Aaj humare desh main Modiji kehte hain ki Naari ki pooja ki jaati hai, beti badhao, beti padhao. Matra 40 rupaye per day pe jab log pradarshan karte hain, aage badhte hain, toh un pe lathiyan barsaate hai. Beti Bachao ki sthithi ye hai ki mahilaon par shoshan kiya jaraha hai. (The state of affairs in our country is such that on the one hand, PM Modi says that women are worshipped. He launches schemes like ‘Save Daughters, Educate Daughters’. When we protest for being paid only Rs 40 per day, we are lathi charged. Women are being harassed in spite of Beti Bachao.”

A memorandum with the demands of the midday meal workers was submitted to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday. It was also resolved that the workers will be joining the all-India workers’ strike on January 8 and 9, 2019.

Read more: Karnataka Mid-Day Meal Workers Protest, Demand Better Wages and Social Security