How do we survive on Rs 66 a day? Chhattisgarh mid-day meal cooks on indefinite protest

Raipur: It's been 22 days since thousands of mid-day meal cooks, mostly women, have been protesting in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur, demanding a hike in their daily wages from Rs 66 to over Rs 400.

Nearly 95 per cent of the protesters are women, many from rural and tribal areas, who say their labour keeps classrooms running, even as their own households remain on the brink.

These cooks, the key workforce behind one of the government's ambitious nutrition schemes, have been protesting under the banner of the 'Chhattisgarh School Madhyanh Bhojan Rasoiya Sanyukta Sangh'.

"Why is the government playing with our lives?" asked Savita Manikpuri (38), who travelled from Kanker district to join the agitation.

A cook since 2011 at a government middle school in Dudhawa village, Manikpuri recalled starting on a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000, later raised to Rs 2,000 during the previous Congress government.

"Governments change, but our situation doesn't. How do we survive on Rs 66 a day?" she asked while talking to PTI on Monday.

"I have two children. My daughter has finished school, but I can't afford to send her to college. My son is in Class 11. They have dreams. I don't know how to fulfil them," she said.

Meghraj Baghel (45), the protesting association's secretary, said around 87,000 cooks work under the mid-day meal scheme in the state, and since December 29, they have been on an indefinite strike, a move he claimed has disrupted meal services in several schools.

Groups of cooks arrive in batches from different districts, stay for a few days, and then return home, replaced by others. On any given day, 6,000 to 7,000 cooks sit in protest, he claimed.

Baghel said he has been associated with the scheme since its launch in October 1995.

"We began at Rs 15 per day. After 30 years, we are still at Rs 66. Our demand is simple - pay us the collector rate, around Rs 440 per day," he said.

Baghel claimed the state government has done nothing for the cooks.

They are paying monthly wages of only Rs 2,000, that too for 10 months in a year. In contrast, cooks in other states receive significantly higher wages for the same work- Rs 21,000 per month in Puducherry, Rs 12,000 in Kerala, Rs 6,000 in Lakshadweep, Rs 4,000 each in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, he said.

Baghel said that given the crushing inflation, it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to make ends meet.

Beyond wages, the cooks say their jobs are precarious.

"When schools are merged, or student strength declines, cooks are often removed. We have given our entire lives to this work. If a school closes, where do we go?" Baghel asked, demanding that they be given alternative employment within the government setup.

Another protester, Bhuneshwari Markam (40) from Mathuradih village of Dhamtari district, has been cooking mid-day meals for 15 years.

"We reach school for work by 9 am and leave after 3 pm. Cooking, serving, washing utensils - it takes five to six hours. Yet the government says we work only two hours," she rued.

Markam's family depends on her income and her labourer husband's daily wages.

"We don't have farmland. This is our main source of income. We feed other people's children, but we cannot properly feed our own. Education, clothes, even basic needs are a struggle," she added.

Many women at the protest site spoke of long-term health problems due to smoke, as in rural areas, meals are often prepared on firewood stoves due to the unavailability of cooking gas cylinders.

The women said they will continue to stage the protest until the government listens to their demands.

Pramod Ray, the association's media in-charge, who works as a cook at a school in Nawagaon village of Bemetara district, also highlighted the health hazards faced by cooks, especially in rural areas where food is still prepared on firewood stoves due to the unavailability of cooking gas.

"Many suffer from eye problems and respiratory illnesses. My mother, who earlier worked as a mid-day meal cook, has been suffering from a heart-related ailment and has been under treatment for 6-7 years. In the rainy season, the work conditions worsen. Despite years of service, we are treated like bonded labourers," he claimed.

The state education department officials could not be contacted for a response despite repeated attempts.

State Congress chief Dipak Baij visited the protest site on Monday and extended support to the demands of the cooks.