Jhanjharpur: Cooks and assistants working under the Prime Minister Poshan Scheme in primary and middle schools have demanded an increase in their honorarium and permanent status from the Bihar government. In a meeting held on Saturday at the Jhanjharpur BRC, Bihar Provincial Secretary Pawan Kumar and Bihar Provincial Vice President Ranju Devi highlighted the pitiable condition of these workers.

They stated that cooks are the first to arrive at school and spend the entire day preparing meals, feeding children, cleaning utensils, the kitchen, and the school premises. This leaves them no time for other wage-earning work. Most of the appointed cooks are women from extremely poor and economically weaker sections of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, minorities, and general categories. The current honorarium of Rs 3300 is insufficient given the high inflation.

The union has urged the government to stop the outsourcing of the PM Poshan Scheme to NGOs. They demand an honorarium of at least Rs 400 per day (Rs 12,000 per month), permanent employment for existing cooks, and payment for all 12 months of the year. Other demands include financial assistance for medical treatment in case of injury during work, maternity and special leave benefits, provident fund scheme benefits, issuance of appointment letters, free insurance of Rs 5 lakh, ESI benefits, and timely payment of honorarium by the 7th of every month. The union also called for a living wage in accordance with the minimum wage guidelines issued by the labor department.