Patna: Employees of Bihar’s Midday Meal Scheme have launched a phased agitation this week demanding higher pay, staging demonstrations across districts. Union representatives said that while they would continue their protest until August 30, meal services for schoolchildren from classes 1 to 8 have not been disrupted.
The state director of the scheme, Vinayak Mishra, has instructed district officials and police superintendents to ensure security and law and order at designated protest sites. Vachandev Kumar, general secretary of the Bihar State Midday Meal Scheme Employees Union, said workers would boycott duties at district offices until the end of the month.
A demonstration is planned outside the scheme’s directorate in Patna on September 1, followed by an indefinite sit-in at Gardanibagh Dharna Sthal from September 2 if demands remain unmet. The union has warned that if school meals are interrupted later, responsibility will lie with the directorate and the state education department.
Around 600 employees are involved in the protest, including block resource workers, district resource workers, accountants, district coordinators and programme managers working at both district and block levels.
