Tamil Nadu - Cuddalore   

Noon meal workers in Cuddalore begin 3-day relay hunger strike

CUDDALORE: Members of Tamil Nadu Noon Meal Employees’ Association began a three-day relay hunger strike in front of the Collectorate here on Wednesday.

Led by district president of the Association S. Rengasamy, they demanded regularisation of payscale and pension. In a statement issued here, the Association said that in 1983, the government had selected candidates from registers of employment office and designated them as noon meal organisers for an honorarium.

However, after their appointment to the posts, they were deleted from the rolls of employment offices.

Later, candidates much junior to the noon meal organisers but who were still on the rolls of employment offices, were absorbed into various government departments. Till then, they had been promoted to various stages whereas the noon meal organisers were stuck in the same position for the past 25 years.

The Association alleged that the government had reintroduced consolidated pay system in various forms such as special timescale pay and special pension.

As the noon meal employees could not survive on honorarium, they made a plea to the Sixth Pay Commission to categorise them - noon meal organisers as junior assistants, cooks as clerks and assistant cooks as office assistants - and accordingly fix the payscale.

But, the Pay Commission’s recommendations in this regard were disappointing, thus, pushing them to take to agitation, the Association said.

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