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Punjab FM tells dept to form panel to study mid-day meal cooks’ salary
The finance minister gave the direction during a meeting with the representatives of mid-day meal cooks’ unions here
Punjab Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday directed the school education department to form a committee comprising officials of the education and finance departments, and representatives of mid-day meal cooks’ unions to study the various aspects related to the salary of mid-day meal cooks and present a report so that a decision to increase their salaries could be taken at the earliest.
The finance minister gave the direction during a meeting with the representatives of mid-day meal cooks’ unions here. Cheema discussed their demands in detail and asked the school education department to chalk out an insurance policy in consultation with banks or insurance companies to provide both health and life insurance coverage to the cooks. He also directed the department to issue guidelines to the school management committees regarding hiring cooks for preparing mid-day meals. In these guidelines, priority should be given to the cooks who have previous work experience under this scheme, he said. Cheema said this will directly benefit those mid-day meal cooks who have to change schools due to marriage or for any other relevant reason. “The department should also write to the election commission to ensure that the payment is made directly to their accounts in case the services of mid-day meal cooks are being availed during the elections,” he added.
The minister further asked the education department to take necessary action at the earliest to arrange aprons, caps, gloves etc. for these cooks. Secretary, school education Kamal Kishore Yadav, special secretary-cum-director general, school education Vinay Bublani, and leaders of various unions including Karamchand Chindalia, Sukhdev Ram Sharma Gholia, Harjinder Kaur, Praveen Sharma, Praveen Bala and Lakhwinder Kaur were present in the meeting.
