BENGALURU: The indefinite strike by mid-day meal workers, which was being staged across the state for the past four days, was called off on Friday evening after a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Following the meeting, the striking workers said Siddaramaiah has responded positively to their demands leading to them to call off the strike.
It is learnt that in the meeting, the workers had demanded an increase in the monthly honorarium to Rs 3,000, but the Chief Minister offered Rs 2,600. Siddaramaiah requested the workers to call off the strike till the announcement of the state budget on February 16. “We will wait for the budget announcement as said by the CM. We hope for the best,” said representatives of mid-day meal workers’ associations.
Meanwhile, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait met the workers who were protesting at Freedom Park. Sait said, “They have demanded health insurance and pension. The government will consider including them in the universal health insurance scheme.”
Presently, the state government is paying them a honorarium of Rs 2,200 a month and the Education Department had sent a budget proposal asking for Rs 1,000 increase in the honorarium. In a written answer to the Legislative Council on this, it was mentioned that if the honorarium is increased by Rs 500 then the state will need an additional amount of Rs 59.09 crore every 10 months. And if it is increased by Rs 1,000, an additional burden of Rs 110.19 crore will be incurred.
