SCORES of Mid-Day Meal workers held a march to parliament on August
5, in support of their demands including immediate implementation of the
declared increase of Rs 1,000 in honorarium and regularisation of jobs
of nearly 26 lakh such workers with provision for pension.
Nearly 5,000 Mid-Day Meal workers from across the country, under the
aegis of the CITU-affiliated All India Coordination Committee of Mid-Day
Meal Workers (AICCMDMW), gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for the
march. Later, a delegation, led by CITU general secretary and Rajya
Sabha MP, Tapan Sen and AICCMDMW convener A R Sindhu, submitted a
memorandum to human resources development minister Smriti Irani, who
assured the delegation that she will look into the matter positively.
Nearly 26 lakh Mid-Day Meal workers are not recognised as workers and
are paid a pittance of Rs 1,000 a month and that too only for ten
months in a year. They are not provided any social security. The
government is not ready to implement the 45th Indian Labour
Conference recommendations that the Mid-Day Meal workers be recognised
as workers, paid minimum wages and social security including pension.
The HRD ministry declared as early in May 2013 that the remuneration
of the Mid-Day Meal workers will be enhanced by Rs 1,000 per month.
Despite repeated promises, this was not implemented by the UPA
government. The minister for HRD of the new NDA government also
promised, during a meeting in July, that this enhancement would be
implemented early but this year’s union budget has neglected the workers
as well as the scheme. “It is unfortunate that the union budget 2014-15
did not reflect either aspirations of the Mid-Day Meal Workers or the
need for infrastructure, quality and management needs of the scheme,”
the AICCMDMW said in its memorandum to the HRD minister.
The AICCMDMW’s demands include immediate implementation
of the declared increase of Rs 1,000 in honorarium with effect from
April 1, 2013; Implementation of the 45th Indian Labour
Conference recommendations – regularistion, minimum wages and pension;
Payment of remuneration for all 12 months through ‘zero balance bank
account’; And 180 days’ paid maternity wages. The workers also asked the
government to stop privatisation of Mid-Day Meal Scheme by handing over
to corporate NGOs and to ensure safety of Mid-Day Meal workers and
provide medical insurance.
Mid-Day Meal workers from several states including Andhra
Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Telengana, UP, Uttarakhand and West Bengal participated in
the march.
The march was inaugurated by CITU president A K Padmanabhan at Jantar
Mantar. He called upon the workers to intensify their struggles to
change the policies of the government. CITU general secretary Tapan Sen
assured the gathering that CITU would take forward the struggle of
Mid-Day Meal workers. Sen called upon the workers to expose the politics
behind the policies and mobilise people against it. CPI(M) MPs P
Karunakaran and P K Sreemati assured the gathering that the struggle
inside parliament by the Left parties will echo the struggle outside
parliament by the working class. Student Federation of India (SFI)
president V Sivadasn and All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA)
president Sudha Sundararaman also expressed solidarity to the struggle
of the Mid-Day Meal workers. Leaders from different states also
addressed the gathering.
The workers marching towards parliament were stopped by police on
Parliament Street. The workers warned the government against intensified
agitations during the winter session of parliament if their demands
were not met at the earliest.