Hyderabad: President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday, August 18, raised concerns over the lack of wage increments for cooks under the PM Poshan scheme.
In a letter to Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the MP highlighted that the cooks preparing mid-day meals at government schools are paid Rs 810 a month, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2009. Asaduddin Owaisi stressed that the cooks receive Rs 1000 a month while working for 10 months a year.
Each month a sum of Rs 190 is deducted from their salaries and is added into the Pension scheme. Asaduddin Owaisi urged Pradhan to increase the honorarium for cooks and helpers to Rs 3,500 a month. “The education ministry should also consider measures to provide relief from deduction of money for the PM pension scheme.”
He further urged the government to provide paid leaves, insurance and retirement benefits to the cooks.
Asaduddin Owaisi took to X, stating “Imagine that you cook food to feed India’s poorest children. Imagine that you are paid Rs 810 per month every month and that your wages have not increased since 2009. This is the case with India’s cooks and helpers under the PM-POSHAN/mid-day meal scheme.”
“What’s the use of having @PMOIndia’s name on the scheme if the people responsible for its success aren’t even compensated by the govt properly,” the MP questioned.
“Wrote to @dpradhanbjp asking that 25 lakh cooks and helpers be paid proper remuneration along with other basic conditions of service,” he concluded.
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