March 16, 2014
Array

Against Injustice to Mid-Day Meal Workers

THE All India Coordination Committee of Mid-Day Meal Workers, affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), has strongly condemned the injustice meted out by the UPA government to the 26 lakh mid-day meal workers of the country. In its statement issued at New Delhi on March 7, the coordination committee pointed out that despite the written assurance given to the 45th Indian Labour Conference in May 2013 and despite the assurance given in parliament that the remuneration of the mid-day meal workers would be increased in the financial year 2013-14, and even after getting the finance ministry’s approval for this increase, the union cabinet did not give approval for it. Thus the UPA government has once again made its clear that the interests of labour are not on its agenda. The statement pointed out that, on February 12, 2014, the minister for human resource development, Pallam Raju, had assured a delegation of the AICCMDMW (CITU) that the remuneration of these workers would be increased to Rs 2000 per month from Rs 1,000 per month, and that only the approval of the cabinet was awaited for it. But even the last cabinet meeting of the UPA government turned its back on the 26 lakh women workers by not giving the approval for the increase. The coordination committee has called upon the mid-day meal workers of the country to organise actions in protest against the UPA government’s attitude and expose it among the workers and the people by organising press conferences, meetings, rallies, dharnas etc all over the country. It has called upon the mid-day meal workers to carry forward the struggle for their just demands of regularisation, minimum wages and pension, and to save the scheme which provides 15 percent of the family calorie intake of the poor of our country.