Students at Uttarakhand government school refuse to eat food by Dalit cook: Report

The principal had a meeting with the parents and warned them that the children could face expulsion

In a Uttarakhand government school, upper-caste students boycotted mid-day meals made by a Dalit cook. The same controversy occurred a few months ago.

The principal of the school, Prem Singh, said that on Friday, a few students refused to eat food cooked by Sunita Devi - the same cook who was sacked in December and was later re-appointed.

On December 13, 2021, around 66 students at the school in the Champawat district said they would not eat the food cooked by Sunita. Ten days later, the officials relieved Sunita and stated ‘procedural lapses’ in her appointment.

Also Read | Dalit students in Uttarakhand school refuse mid-day meals after SC cook sacked

Following the row, Dalit students in the school refused to eat meals prepared by the upper-caste woman who replaced Sunita. Soon after, Sunita filed a complaint against the school under the SC/ST Act and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC following which she was re-appointed.

Mid-day meals resumed in the school from the end of March.

After the latest row, the District Manager of Champawat, Narender Singh Bhandari, met the parents of these children and asked them to ensure that the food is eaten by them.

“Today, the DM and a few police officials had a meeting with the students and their parents and tried to convince them to stop boycotting the meal. The officials themselves had a meal at the school. However, these 7-8 students still refused to eat, claiming they do not eat rice,” the principal of Swatantra Sangram Senani Late Shri Ram Chandra Government Inter College in Jaul village, told the Indian Express.

The principal also had a meeting with the parents and warned them that the children could face expulsion. The parents said they would talk to the students, but also asked the administration to not put pressure on them.

Sunita, too, said that 7-8 students are still not eating the food, but that she is not bothered by this. “I have been asked to cook meals only for those willing to eat.”