Ludhiana: Mid-day meal workers await 2-month salary

A meagre ₹3,000 monthly wage, delayed by forced bank change, has pushed workers into financial hardships

Mid-day meal workers across the state are struggling to make ends meet as their monthly salaries have not been credited for the past two months. These workers, who earn a modest ₹3,000 per month, say the delay has pushed them into a severe financial crisis. With many of them having taken small loans, their EMIs are being auto-deducted from their existing accounts, leaving them with nothing to survive on.

Mid-day meal workers prepare lunch in a school in Ludhiana. (HT)

Adding to their woes, the government has now asked them to open new bank accounts in Canara Bank, which they claim is one of the reasons behind the stalled payments. “We have been told to shift our accounts, and while that process is still ongoing, we are not even being paid for the previous months,” said Parveen Kumari, district president of the Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union. She added that their repeated demands to raise the monthly salary have also gone unheard.

“ ₹3,000 is too little, especially when prices of everything are rising,” Kumari said. “During a recent meeting with the finance minister, we were told that the state has proposed to the Centre to increase its share from ₹600 to ₹2,000, after which the state’s share will rise from ₹2,400 to ₹4,000. This would double our salaries, but nothing has materialised yet.”

For many workers, the wait has become unbearable. “Some of us are single mothers and the sole earners in our families. We already earn so little, and now even that is stuck,” said a worker from the district.

Kumari highlighted that while urban workers might manage to find some side work, those in rural areas have very limited opportunities to supplement their income. “They are completely dependent on this salary,” she said.

Earlier this week, a delegation of workers submitted a demand letter to additional deputy commissioner (general) Rakesh Kumar, addressed to state education minister Harjot Singh Bains, pressing for urgent intervention.

Meanwhile, district education officer (elementary) Ravinder Kaur said that their pending salaries would be released by next week.