Unpaid salaries, low budget allocation plague mid-day meal scheme in UP in COVID Response Watch — by Kumudini Pati — 14/02/2022 https://countercurrents.org/2022/02/unpaid-salaries-low-budget-allocation-plagues-mid-day-meal-scheme-in-up/
The MDM Scheme-background
The Mid Day Meal Scheme is a central government scheme under the HRD Ministry, which had been started initially in 1995 to provide nutrition to growing children, to encourage enrolment in schools as well as decrease the dropout rate, especially of poor children and girls. The scheme was created under the Ministry of Women and Child.
Only dry rations were being given in most of the states till 2001, except in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Orissa, Kerala and some parts of Madhya Pradesh, where hot cooked meals were being served. Allocation for the scheme was provided for in the 2004 budget and its implementation began in 2005. It is the largest scheme of its kind, providing one nutritious meal for children of school going age in government schools or government aided schools and madrasas. 60% of the cost of running the scheme comes from the Central government while 40% comes from the State government. There are monitoring committees at all levels right from the centre up to the village level to see that the scheme is implemented properly. Yet the scheme is ridden with too many problems.
“When we have been ourselves suffering, what can we do for the children? It is this that corrupts many. We have been demanding the status of government employees since long, because we can be thrown out without any valid reason anytime” Neelam told Covid Response Watch.
According to her they wanted increase in pay to 10,000 per month and salary for 12 months as well as payment within the first week of every month.
“Till now our honorarium was Rs.1000 and only since last year we got a paltry increase of Rs.500. So effectively we get only Rs.50 per day. That also is given for 10 months and is often delayed. Can we manage with Rs. 1500 per month? This is just a token amount, like a bakshish (tip), not even equal to the minimum wage.”
The MDMS cooks complain that they are never given a bonus during major festivals like Holi and Diwali. Last year they could not even celebrate Diwali because payments were pending. Moreover, in some areas of Allahabad, for example, in Jhunsi, many quarantine centres had been set up for Covid positive people and the MDMS cooks had to prepare and deliver food to them. They should have been given extra remuneration for that, but since schools were closed, no money was given.
Neelam says people working for MNREGA get Rs.202 per day. “We spend 7-8 hours not only cooking, but even dusting the benches and windows, sweeping the classrooms and verandahs, doing small errands for the teachers and cleaning the vessels before we leave. There have been cases in the state where cooks have had to clean the washrooms. My sister cooks for a family of 4 and gets a salary of Rs.6000 plus festival bonus”.
“The government doesn’t even heed the order of the High Court” she says.
By Kumudini Pati