Cooks in schools get less than govt-prescribed minimum wages

PATIALA: While the Punjab government has fixed Rs 130 per day as minimum wages in Punjab, its own education department has been violating the directions by paying just Rs 31 per day to cooks, who prepare mid-day meals in thousands of schools across Punjab.
Worse, even the meagre amount is paid after deducting payment for days when the schools remain closed.
"Punjab government should at least pay minimum wages of Rs 130 per day to us. We don`t receive even Rs 1,000 per month," said Harjinder Kaur, president of cooks` association in Punjab. The association has around 30,000 members in Punjab.
The cooks have now started protests against the education department. The association has staged demonstrations in Patiala, Mohali, Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana and Sangrur. The association now plans to hold a demonstrations in Chandigarh on June 28.
Many a times, the supply of ration gets late and authorities deduct salary of cooks of these days also, when there is no mid-day meal in schools, despite the presence of cooks in schools. In a year, the cooks thus receive salary for only 10 months as government deducts payments for summer and winter vacations from the salaries of these cooks, the association said.