Voices from the Midday Meal Workers’ Struggles

The midday meal workers in Bihar went on a three day long hunger strike from 8th to 10th July 2015 demanding regularization, a monthly honorarium of at least Rs.15000/- besides other necessary provisions that they should be entitled to. The call for the hunger strike received a massive response from the midday meal workers. Some of the experiences voiced by women midday meal workers’ who joined the 3 day strike have been shared below:

Sona Devi, a midday meal worker, who till 6 months back was too shy to speak in public, delivered a long speech in midst of her fellow workers as the joint secretary of the Bihar Rajya Vidyalay Rasoiya Sangh. She recalled that she had spent her early childhood years in the Masaurhi block of Patna district, and the anti-feudal struggles of the CPI(ML) in that area left a lasting impact on her. This memory, sleeping within her, was revived after she came into contact with the party again in the past few months.  She began her speech with a song – ‘Jhuki jhuki piyava goliya chalave, shaheedva bhaiya ho nanadi’ – about the militant anti-feudal resistance.  She used the song to tell her fellow workers that the militant Left activists had sacrificed their lives in the movements of the 1980s, thereby achieving increased wages of agricultural workers from 1 kg to 5 kgs of grain. She said, “We can achieve an increase in our wages today by being part of this same movement and radical Left politics. The Government can kill one, it can’t kill a united and strong organisation.”

Kalavati Devi, Secretary of the Maner block unit of the BRVRS union, said in her address to the other mid day meal workers- “We should neither support Modi nor Nitish. We should support and strengthen AIPWA that is with us in our struggle”. Kalavati had contacted AIPWA after reading newspaper reports about the mid-day meal workers’ struggles.

A mid-day meal worker hailing from East Champaran, holding a small baby in her arms, had joined the protest demonstrations in the burning June sun and the July monsoon rain. She did not get a chance to speak publicly at Patna because there were so many other speakers, but after the dharna she came up to Com. Saroj Chaubey, state president of the Rasoiya Sangh and said “Didi, being part of the struggle with you has opened my eyes. I’m ready to come anywhere to be part of the movement.”

Kamli Devi, the joint secretary of Fatuha block has established herself in her school as a fiery activist, whose very presence deters authorities from wrong-doing. She said, “We became mid-day meal workers expecting that the Government would recognise us as Government employees. After 8 years of toil, we find that the Government has just ignored us. We are not begging for charity – we are demanding what is our right. If any administrative officer makes food at my house I will pay them Rs 2000 – I expect them to pay us for cooking in Government schools!”

Several of the midday meal workers displayed remarkable leadership qualities during the course of the struggle and showed tremendous enthusiasm towards mobilization for the next phase of the struggle. The next agitation has been planned for 5,6,7 August when the assembly is in session.

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