Shillong: Cook-cum-helpers across Meghalaya are walking off the job. Starting September 1, they will stop preparing mid-day meals for school children under the PM POSHAN scheme. The Central Executive Committee of the Union of Cook-cum-Helpers PM POSHAN decided on this move at a meeting in the Ranikor-Mawshynrut block of West Khasi Hills district this past Monday.
The workers are angry. They have faced years of stagnant pay from the federal government. Currently, the Centre contributes only Rs 900 per month for 10 months a year. While the Meghalaya state government raised its share from Rs 100 to Rs 1,100 back in 2022, the central portion has not moved. The total monthly payment sits at Rs 2,000. Now, the union demands the Centre hike its share to Rs 9,000 per month for workers in the Northeast.
The union has tried to talk for years. In January 2024, they met Sanjay Kumar, the then Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, in New Delhi. On June 20, they spoke with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at Wahiajer in West Jaintia Hills, joined by Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui. Their frustration is hitting a breaking point after two decades of low pay.
On August 10, the union submitted a formal plea to Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi. They asked him to address the “decades-old stagnation” of their pay. The workers want a resolution through a cordial and constructive dialogue. If nothing changes, they may demand that the federal government scrap the PM POSHAN program in the Northeast entirely.
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