Shimla: Mid-day meal workers across Himachal Pradesh observed a statewide strike on Monday and staged a massive protest in Shimla, demanding higher honorarium, implementation of a 12-month salary system, pension and gratuity benefits, social security coverage, and a policy for regularisation.

Under the banner of the CITU-affiliated Mid-Day Meal Workers Union, hundreds of women workers from different districts of the state gathered in the capital and marched in a protest rally from Talland to the State Secretariat. The demonstrators raised slogans against both the Central and State governments, accusing them of ignoring their long-pending demands.

According to union leaders, between 500 and 700 women workers from across Himachal Pradesh participated in the protest. The gathering outside the Secretariat briefly disrupted traffic movement in the area, prompting police to make special arrangements to regulate traffic.
The workers alleged that despite playing a crucial role in implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in government schools, they have been forced to work for years on meagre honorariums.

Union representatives said workers currently receive between Rs 4,000 and Rs 4,500 per month, which they described as insufficient to sustain families amid rising inflation and increasing living costs. They further alleged that salaries are often delayed for months and that, despite working throughout the year, they are paid for only ten months.
Speaking at the protest, CITU State Vice-President Sudesh Thakur said workers from all districts of Himachal Pradesh, including remote tribal areas such as Kinnaur, had joined the agitation.

"Thousands of Mid-Day Meal workers are participating in today's strike. Many others are observing the strike in their respective areas by staying away from work," she said.
Thakur said the union had served a strike notice to the government 14 days ago and had repeatedly raised its demands in the past, but no positive response had been received.
"We were left with no option but to go on strike because our repeated appeals have gone unheard," she said.

Highlighting the economic hardships faced by workers, Thakur said most Mid-Day Meal workers belong to economically weaker sections, while many are widows or sole earners in their families.
"In today's inflationary environment, it is impossible to run a family on Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500 a month. Prices of diesel, petrol, cooking gas and other essential commodities have increased continuously, but there has been no significant increase in our honorarium for years," she said.

She also criticised the Central government, alleging that honorariums for Mid-Day Meal workers had not been revised for several years despite rising living costs.
The union leader further alleged that workers are denied regular leave benefits and face wage deductions if they take leave. She said workers receive salaries for only ten months, even though they work throughout the year.

Thakur pointed out that the Himachal Pradesh High Court had ruled in favour of providing Mid-Day Meal workers with salaries for all 12 months along with leave benefits, but claimed that the government had chosen to challenge the matter rather than implement the judgment.
She demanded immediate implementation of the High Court order, payment of 12 months' salary, leave benefits, a dignified wage structure, and access to social security measures such as Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), pension and other employee welfare benefits.

Addressing the gathering and later speaking to ANI, Preeti Thakur, former District General Secretary of the Mid-Day Meal Workers Union in Chamba, said workers had been demanding minimum wages, year-round payment and social security benefits for a long time.
"We have been raising our demands for years, including minimum wages, payment for all 12 months, and better working conditions. Many women have to walk several kilometres every day to reach schools, yet they continue to receive very low wages and no substantial benefits," she said.

The union demanded that the monthly honorarium be increased from Rs 4,500 to Rs 7,000. It also sought gratuity benefits, pension coverage, social security protection and a clear policy for regularisation of services.
Union leaders warned that the current protest was only a one-day strike and cautioned that the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to take concrete steps to address their demands.
The statewide strike highlighted growing discontent among Mid-Day Meal workers, who play a vital role in providing nutritious meals to schoolchildren under one of India's largest school welfare programmes.

This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.