BENGALURU: Thousands of midday meal workers, who had been staging a protest at Freedom Park from Sunday night for their various demands, called off their protest after Commissioner of Public Instruction P C Jaffer met them on Monday. Jaffer told them that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has promised to take up their demands during the upcoming winter Assembly session.
The workers had threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike if the government failed to meet their demands.
The workers, representing most districts of the state, had been staging the protest, led by a trade union, demanding that the government increase their honorarium and provide them job security. Another demand was that the government scrap the contract given to private companies and NGOs to supply mid-day meals. In addition to job security, the workers also demanded ESI or provident fund.
IN A NUTSHELL
Over 1.18 lakh women are involved in midday meal preparation across the state
They have been working under midday meal project for 16 years
The government has been giving an honorarium of D2,700 a month to main cooks and D2,600 to assistants
In the 2017-18 state budget, the govt announced an increase of B500 per month in the honorarium