Mid-day meal workers plan massive 'Chalo Hyderabad' protest on Thursday

HYDERABAD: Thousands of mid-day meal workers from across the state will take out a massive 'Chalo Hyderabad' protest on Thursday and go on an indefinite strike in the city. The decision was taken on Wednesday after not getting any response from education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy despite staying away from work for the last three days.

Slamming the government’s indifference to their demands, Sulochana, a worker from Adilabad district, said, "For three days we did not cook food for the students. Our hearts go out to those kids but we know that we need to resort to such pressure tactics more for them than us. It is ridiculous that the government has not shown any consideration. We, and the children, feel let down and betrayed."

In Nirmal, close to 1000 mid-day meal workers took to the streets and staged a rasta roko.

"It is good that schools were closed today and the impact of our strike was less on kids. We plan a 'Chalo Hyderabad' on Thursday and won't stop until the government responds. If the education minister fails to meet us, we will meet the Chief Minister urging him to settle all our demands," said Chittiyala Laxmi from Nirmal district.

She added that as a desperate attempt, they had spoken to forest minister Allola Indrakaran Reddy, who, apparently, assured them that he would speak to the education minister.

Meanwhile, some other workers, who wrote to the CMO, said that they had mentioned that they would wait until July 14 for a response from the state government and resume their strike if no satisfactory response comes from their end.