All Manipur Mid-Day Meal Workers' Union holds conference

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 30: All Manipur Mid-Day Meal Workers' Union held its 3rd conference at Johnstone Higher Secondary School, Imphal Sunday.
Mid-Day Meal Workers' Federation of India general secretary Jai Bhagwan, Manipur Government Services Federation secretary L Purojit Singh,  and others including members of All Manipur Mid-Day Meal Workers' Union attended the event.
To mark the event, the gathering paid floral tribute to the workers' union memorial stone inside the campus of the school.
Speaking at the event, Maibam Loitang, president All Manipur Mid-Day Meal Workers' Union stated that the union has branches and units all districts. The mid-day meal workers, since the implementation of the mid-day meal scheme, has been rendering services and providing nutritional foods to students in Government schools, she said.
With a view to enhancing enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally sponsored scheme on August 15, 1995.
In September 2004, the scheme was revised to provide cooked mid-day meal with 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein to all children studying in Classes I – V in Government and aided schools and EGS/ AIE centres.
More than 9 crore children are being provided hot cooked nutritious food in 11.34 lakh schools. More than 25 lakh cook-cum-helpers mainly from SC/ST/OBC communities are engaged in the scheme. Despite the noble services, the condition and status of the workers are yet to be improved, she said.
As compared to other States, the condition of the workers in Manipur is pathetic, she said informing that scheme workers are paid only Rs 1,000 per month. In Kerala, scheme workers are paid a minimum of Rs 7,500 per month, she added.
More than seven thousand workers are providing cooked food to more than 2.5 lakh children in Manipur, she said and appealing the Government to recognise them and increase their monthly remuneration to Rs 18,000 with social security and pension scheme. She also urged the Government to improved and provide necessary facilities required for successful functioning of the scheme.
Success of the mid-day meal scheme is not possible without welfare of the workers. Scheme workers should be encouraged to better serve the children with better working environment and welfare schemes, she said.