Punjab announces salary hike of ₹500 for mid-day meal workers

The last hike given to the workers was in 2017 and at that time they used to earn ₹1,200 per month

In a relief to around 3,622 mid-day meal (MDM) workers who have been preparing meals for the students of 1,536 government schools in the district, the state government has hiked their salary by ₹500 per month. Earlier, the workers used to get paid ₹1,700 per month.

Last year on September 23, the state government had announced paid maternity leave for 180 days for mid-day meal workers under the Maternity Benefit Act. (Representative image) (HT FILE)

The last hike given to the workers was in 2017 and at that time they used to earn ₹1,200 per month. The mid-day meal workers in the district said that it was a relief for them as they had been working hard to prepare packets of food grains along with the teachers and then delivering the same to the doorsteps of the children amid the lockdown imposed by the Central government last year.

Forty-year-old Usha Rani, a mid-day meal worker at Government Primary School, Chanan Devi, said, “I have been working in this school for the last 10 years. We reach school early as we have to serve meals to the children by 11.30 am. We have been preparing meals for over 600 students every day and put in a lot of effort to serve delicious and healthy food to the children studying in Class 1 to 5. This enhancement in salary will further motivate existing workers to continue with their jobs.”

Last year on September 23, the state government had announced paid maternity leave for 180 days for mid-day meal workers under the Maternity Benefit Act.

Another MDM cook in a Government Model Senior Secondary School, Cemetery Road, Vandana, said, “This is the biggest respite for the workers as we are paid a very meagre salary per month. I was expecting a hike of ₹1,300 per month. I have been preparing meals in our school with other workers for more than 700 students but due to the surge in Covid -19 cases, now we are not serving meals to students as schools are closed till April 30. The state government even paid us salary for June last year, while usually, during the summer break in June, the authorities do not give us a salary.”

While as per the officials of the state MDM Cell, they do not have details as to when the salary will be hiked. When contacted, Prabcharan Singh, general manager of the state MDM cell, SAS Nagar, said, “I will not be able to comment as we haven’t received any information regarding when the salary of the MDM workers will be increased from ₹1,700 to ₹2,200.”