Chhattisgarh: 87,000 mid-day meal cooks strike for fair pay
Since December 29, around 87,000 mid-day meal cooks—nearly 95% of them are women, and many come from rural and tribal areas—have been on an indefinite strike, staging protests in Raipur with cooks arriving in batches and about 6,000-7,000 sitting in protest on any given day.
They're asking for a daily wage hike from ₹66 to at least ₹340 (some reports put the demand at around ₹440 or say it is over ₹400), saying their current pay just doesn't keep up with rising prices and basic family needs.
Why does it matter?
These cooks are the backbone of school meals but face tough conditions: job insecurity after school mergers, unpaid work during elections, and health problems from cooking on firewood stoves.
Despite personal losses—including working through family tragedies—they've kept protesting.
Their strike has disrupted meal services in several schools and drawn support from leaders like State Congress chief Dipak Baij.
As one protester put it: "Why is the government playing with our lives?"