Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union Manipur (MDMWUM) on Saturday announced that it will resume its cease work strike from Monday onwards while reiterating their demand that the pending honorarium be released.
In a press conference at Manipur Press Club on Saturday, MDMWUM president Y Indrani Devi said that the honorarium for the mid-day meal workers has not been distributed since October 2020.
They have been launching various form of agitations from time to time, condemning such irresponsible acts of the state government, she said.
They even carried out a cease work strike a few months ago, she mentioned.
However, they suspended it as the state government assured them that their honorarium will be released in July, she added.
However, the state government has kept mum on the issue till date, she said. Therefore, they have decided to resume their cease work strike from Monday, she said.
Any mid-day meal workers who go against the cease work will face consequences, she cautioned.
The school authority should also extend cooperation and understand the problems they face due to not getting their rightful honorarium for a long time, she said.
Indrani said that through their own investigation, they have found out that the Central government had released funds for mid-day meal twice to the tune of Rs 15 crore followed by another Rs 10 crore. However, the state government has not disbursed them till date and this has been highly unfortunate, she added.
The amount of honorarium is just Rs 1,000 and is given only for 10 months in a year, she said. Most of the individuals working as cooks for the mid-day scheme are from economically weak background, she mentioned.
Therefore, the state government not paying heed to their grievances is a complete betrayal to the poorer sections of society, she added.
Considering the significance of the mid-day meal scheme, many states have increased the honorarium for the cooks of this scheme by earmarking a state share, she said. But in the state of Manipur, they even failed to disburse the amount sanctioned by the Central government, she added.
Reiterating their demand, she said successful implementation of the mid-day meal scheme depends on its workers. The state government should stop demoralising the mid-day meal workers by not distributing their honorarium in time, she added.
