Midday Meal Workers Express Concerns Ahead of CM\'s Breakfast Scheme Launch

HYDERABAD: A day before the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme launch, midday meal workers were up in arms over their poor financial condition, highlighting unfulfilled promises and questioning the financial aspect of the breakfast scheme during a dharna on Thursday.

They said they received their August and September honorarium of Rs 1,000 each after a long struggle. “This amount is not enough to purchase millets, pulses, or even utensils for the breakfast scheme,” said Sampoorna Narula, a midday meal worker in Nirmal.

A worker from Siddipet said, “We have had to resort to strikes, lasting almost two weeks in August, just to secure our rightful increment or even receive the basic honorarium of rs 1,000, which Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao promised two years ago in the Assembly. Despite the recent release of funds, after an agonising wait of six months, the announcement of the Dasara gift, aimed at the children, has left us in double trouble.”

“We can't even buy ragi with the money they give for ration… where can we buy eggs, pulses, flour and potatoes?” said Gita T., another worker.

The situation has pushed workers to their limits. “We are tired of paying for the ration on our own to provide for these kids. We would love to continue to do so as much as we can, but we cannot do it anymore,” said Chamanthi L, president of the midday meal workers’ association in Nizamabad.

Guruva Prabhavati, another worker, said more work, more food and more varieties of food would require significant increases in payments. “We will now have to work from 6.30 am to 4 pm. Either the government should hire more workers and implement shifts or divide the labour more effectively, or pay us more,” she said.

She highlighted that many workers, like herself, had left other jobs to join the midday meal scheme. Given the financial constraints, they were contemplating going back.

Muddasir from Karimnagar said that several workers already left their positions due to the prolonged honorarium delays.