Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union Manipur (MDMWUM) on Saturday announced that it will resume its cease work strike from Monday onward while reiterating their demand that the pending honorarium of mid-day meal workers be released.
In a press conference at Manipur Press Club on Saturday,Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union Manipur (MDMWUM) president Y Indrani Devi said that the honorarium for the mid-day meal workers has not been distributed since October 2020. The Union said that most of the workers are suffering due to non payment of the honorarium on time.
Indrani further said that through their own investigation, they have found out that the Central government had released funds for mid-day meal twice to the tune of Rs 15 crore followed by another Rs 10 crore. However, the state government has not disbursed them till date and this has been highly unfortunate.
Reiterating their demand that the pending honorarium be released, the mid-day meal workers have been launching various form of agitations from time to time.
Condemning such irresponsible acts of the state government, they even carried out a cease work strike a few months ago, she mentioned. However, they suspended it as the state government assured them that their honorarium will be released in July, she added.
Despite the assurance, the state government has kept silent on the issue till now. Therefore, we have decided to resume their cease work strike from Monday. The amount of honorarium is just Rs 1,000 and is given only for 10 months in a year. Most of the individuals working as cooks for the mid-day scheme are from economically weak background, she mentioned.
Any workers who go against the cease work will face consequences, she cautioned. The school authority should also extend cooperation and understand the problems they face due to not getting their rightful honorarium for a long time, she said.