BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 22nd July 2024: Members of the CITU-affiliated Tripura Mid-Day Meal Workers Union on Monday staged a protest in front of the Education Department demanding a 10-point charter of demands including official recognition of mid-day meal workers. The protest was followed by a delegation from the union meeting with the director of the Education Department to submit their demands.
A leader of the committee Panchali Bhattacharjee expressed the plight of the mid-day meal workers stating, “These workers come from very poor and economically backward sections. They are earning only 2,500 rupees per month, which is not enough to sustain their families. We urge the state government to increase their salaries.”
The union’s 10-point demands include several key issues. “We are demanding the payment of monthly salaries in the first week of every month, payment of 12 months’ salary instead of the current 10 months, and an increase in wages in line with market rates,” the leader added. Other demands include providing annual clothing, festival ex gratia, and reinstating retrenched workers.
Further demands highlighted by the union include increasing the per capita allocation of mid-day meals for female students, providing compensation in case of accidents while cooking, offering social security to the workers, and issuing appointment letters at the time of hiring.
The protest aimed to highlight the dire conditions under which mid-day meal workers operate and the urgent need for government intervention to improve their working conditions and livelihood.
