BENGALURU: The department of public instruction has swung into action, warning officials that if mid-day meal workers are not paid on time, their salaries too would be delayed.
The protest by mid-day meal cooks from across the state in Bengaluru on January 21 appears to have had an impact with the department issuing an order to address at least some of their concerns on the very day they gathered in Bengaluru.
“Officials must ensure that salary is released before the 5th of every month. In case of delay, assistant directors’ salaries will first be delayed and steps will be taken,” says the order issued by commissioner of public instruction KG Jagadeesh. He has also asked officials to create a recipient ID in treasury 2 for the workers.
The order lists out instructions to education officers, deputy directors of public instruction and block education officers to address some of the grievances of mid-day meal workers.However, there was no mention of one of the major demands of the workers - increasing salaries of chief cooks who currently earn Rs 2,700 a month and assistant cooks who earn Rs 2,600. The remuneration is jointly provided by the state and central governments.
Officials have also been asked to gather information on workers aged below 40 to enrol their names under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan pension scheme.
Deputy directors have been asked to take cognizance of cases wherein mid-day meal workers of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been removed and ascertain if the reasons for their removal were genuine or whether they have been discriminated against as alleged by workers. “If they happened to be genuine, another member of the same caste must be appointed, Jagadeesh said.
To protect mid-day worker from physical and mental harassment of women employees, the deputy directors concerned must constitute a team of reputed women officials and conduct an inquiry. If harassment is proven, criminal cases must be filed against the accused. If the accused is a government employee, disciplinary action will be in accordance with the Central Civil Services Rules, in addition
to the criminal case, the order said.