SHILLONG, July 25: The All Jaintia Mid Day Meal Workers Union on Saturday extended its support to the nationwide demand of the Union of Cook-cum-Helpers under the PM Poshan Scheme for a substantial enhancement of their monthly honorarium, while warning that the scheme should be discontinued in the Northeast if the Centre fails to address their long-pending grievances.
During a meeting of the union held in Jowai, the members resolved to back the demand for increasing the Centre’s contribution towards the monthly honorarium of the cook-cum-helpers from the existing Rs 900 to Rs 9,000.
The union said it had been pursuing the issue since 2022 and had submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the then Governor, the late Satya Pal Malik,seeking a revision of the honorarium which has remained unchanged for more than two decades despite the rising cost of living.
The union further stated that separate representations were submitted to the then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during their visits to Meghalaya earlier this year.
Appealing to the Prime Minister to intervene, the union urged the Centre to consider the demand not only from Meghalaya but also from the other states of the Northeast, arguing that the existing remuneration does not reflect the contributions and sacrifices made by the cook-cum-helpers in ensuring the successful implementation of the PM Poshan Scheme.
The union further warned that if the Central government continues to retain the honorarium at its present level, it would amount to ignoring the hardships faced by the cook-cum-helpers. It maintained that, under such circumstances, the PM Poshan Scheme should no longer be implemented in the region.
The union’s resolution comes close on the heels of a threat issued by the All Garo Hills Cook-cum-Helper Association (PM Poshan) to stop implementing the scheme if the Centre fails to enhance the monthly honorarium.
Last week, the association’s president for Garo Hills, Paul D. Sangma, said cook-cum-helpers receive only Rs 900 per month for ten months in a year, an amount that has remained unchanged for over 20 years.
Calling the honorarium insufficient to meet even basic living expenses, Sangma lamented that although memorandums were submitted to the Prime Minister, the Union Ministries of Education and Finance, the Meghalaya government and the Tura MP repeatedly, no positive response was received.
The association warned that if the Centre failed to increase the honorarium to Rs 9,000, cook-cum-helpers across Meghalaya could boycott the implementation of the scheme.
