Midday meal cooks in Chhattisgarh government schools have been on an indefinite strike for 21 days in New Raipur. They are demanding a raise in their daily wages from Rs 66 to Rs 340. Protesters highlighted work pressures and financial hardships.
At the Naya Dharana Stal protest site in Tuta, New Raipur, cooks are demonstrating under the banner of Chhattisgarh School Madhyanbhojan Rasoiya Sanyukta Sangh. They arrive in batches, staying for about three days before others replace them. The site features tents and local vendors serving the crowds.
Association secretary Meghraj Baghel, 45, from Kondagaon in Bastar, stated, “I have been working as a midday meal cook for the last 30 years. It has become difficult to survive. I have taken loans worth Rs 90,000 to complete my children’s studies. When I started off back in 1995, we used to get Rs 15 per day, and now we are stuck at Rs 66 per day. This is an injustice. Another issue is if the number of children in a school go down, then they terminate our service… This should not happen.”
Baghel noted that their first protest began in 2003-2004, leading to a raise to Rs 33 daily (Rs 1,000 monthly) after six years. Wages increased again in 2019 and 2023 to Rs 66 (Rs 2,000 monthly). “Our first demand is that we should be paid… Rs 11,400 per month or at least Rs 340 per day,” he said. He added that cooks face pressure to work every day, including himself on the day his father died.
Sukrita Chavan, 40, from Rajnandgaon, echoed, “I worked on the day my daughter died in 2024. We have many problems, but government is unable to listen.” She has worked since 2003, starting at Rs 15 daily, and has not received wages since October. Her husband is a labourer, and they have loans for their two daughters' studies. Work begins at 10 am with cleaning rice and ends by 3 pm after cooking and serving, sometimes extending to 4 pm. In 2013, she cooked alone for 170 children; now for 60.
Pankaj Pramanik from Kanker said, “We are like bonded labourers. During any election, we are made to cook. We do not get paid for that. After Covid, they stopped paying us for the last 15 days of June, saying they get money from the central government only for 10 months and these 15 days get adjusted as we get offs on school holidays.” He mentioned avoiding good clothes and tomatoes due to rising costs.
Shakuntala Sen from Dhamtari shared that her family struggles to run the household, with her 19- and 20-year-old children dropping out of college; her husband is a farmer. Shipra Tarafdar from Kanker noted that cooks are “not treated with respect like anganwadi workers and Mitanians, who are honoured for their work.”
A government source indicated, “There is a proposal to increase their wages by Rs 1,000 per month, which means total wages will be Rs 3,000 per month. But no decision has been taken on it.” Senior officials from the Revenue and Education departments did not respond to requests for comment.
