On 2 August, a huge dharna was staged outside the Bihar Assembly under the banner of Bihar State School Rasoiya Sangh against the plan to hand over midday meal scheme to the NGOs. The dharna was led by state president of the Rasoiya Sangh, Com. Saroj Chaubey and the meeting was moderated by secretary of the Rasoiya Sangh, Com. Sohila Gupta. Addressing the dharna, National general secretary of AIPWA, Com. Meena Tiwari said that the condition of midday meal workers working in Bihar government schools was extremely pitiable. They used to receive only one thousand as monthly honorariums and it was after much struggle that the amount was increased by Rs. 250. The announcement of ex gratia grant of 4 lakh in the case of death of a midday meal worker was not being implemented anywhere. On the contrary two months honorarium is cut in the year and on several occasions, owing to various reasons, honorarium is not paid for several months. There is no provision of accident insurance, health insurance or pension for these workers. Additionally, the workers are often subjected to humiliation at work place. Com. Shashi Yadav said that even as the workers are forced to struggle to demand their basic rights, the government has planned to hand over midday meal schemes to NGOs in around 28 districts. Given that workers’ rights are denied by the state, one can imagine their plight under private NGOs. The governments at the centre and state make tall claims about women empowerment but have not bothered once to talk to agitating women workers. The dharna was also addressed by CPI (ML) MLAs Com. Mehboob Alam and Com. Sudama Prasad. The protestors demanded that the government to revoke the move, else, the future of the workers would continue to remain in dark and the students too will not be assured of a healthy and fresh meal. They also warned that they will intensify the struggle.
