Cooks working in govt schools protest in Handwara over pending salaries
Srinagar: Cooks working in government schools under various schemes held a protest to highlight their grievances regarding non-payment of salaries as per the Minimum Wages Act in Kupwara district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, cooks working in government schools under various schemes held a peaceful protest at Chinar Park in the Handwara area of the district. They said that they had been working at par with regular employees for several decades but every government had been discriminatory towards them in fulfilling their demands.
The protesting cooks, mostly women, urged the government to either discontinue the mid-day meal scheme in schools or ensure they are paid fair and regular wages. They said their current earnings of just Rs 30 per day are insufficient to meet even basic needs. “We are earning just Rs 30 a day. How can we survive in today’s times?” one of the protesting women said.
“We happen to be the backbone of government schools providing essential service to the students. The least the government can do is provide us wages as per the Minimum Wages Act,” said a female protester.
“We have donated land to the education department without any compensation, believing that our services would be regularized, but nothing like that happened, thereby pushing us to enduring hardships,” she added. “I have been working in the department for the last one decade, hoping that my services would be regularized, but nothing like that happened. We are not supposed to cook mid-day meals only, but our services are being utilized for different chores,” said another female protester.
“We have been working on meagre wages, hoping that sooner or later the government would make us permanent, but nothing concrete has been done in this regard and we are left high and dry,” she added. Employees have demanded their wages and that their services be made permanent so that their long-pending demands are fulfilled and their hardships are lessened.
