General Secretary JKTF Mir Bashir Ahmad extends support
HAJIN: School cooks working under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in government schools on Thursday staged a protest in Bandipora on Thursday, pressing for their long-pending demands, including a hike in honorarium and job security.
Spokesperson of the Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) and General Secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum (JKTF), Mir Bashir Ahmad, joined the protest and expressed solidarity with the aggrieved workers.
Speaking to the media, Mir Bashir Ahmad said, “You can see the inflation and the current economic conditions. How can a household survive on just Rs 900 per month? These cooks have been working for the past 20 to 25 years on meagre wages without any job security.”
He stressed the need for the government to frame a concrete policy to regularise the services of these workers and ensure dignified wages. “Though the Education Minister Sakeena Itoo had assured during the assembly session that a policy is being formulated for these cooks, no formal step has been taken so far,” he added.
Ahmad reiterated that the forum fully supports the cooks’ demands and urged the government to take immediate steps for their redressal.