Around 500 noon meal staff in Dindigul and 870 staff in Theni districts were arrested when they picketed roads pressing for various demands here on Friday.
In Dindigul, the noon meal staff picketed AMC Road near Kamarajar central bus stand on the third day of their protest to draw the government’s attention to fulfil their demands. Meanwhile, members of the TMC joined the stir and extended their support to the noon meal staff.
Heavy police were deployed near the panchayat union office on AMC Road. The workers appealed to the government to regularise their salary and offer a monthly pension of Rs.3,500 to them.
Theni
In Theni, 870 noon meal workers including 64 men took out a rally from Pallivasal Street and tried to reach the Nehru Statue junction near Theni old bus stand. But the police blocked them at the entrance of Pallivasal Street. They picketed the Theni-Cumbum Highway. They were arrested and later released in the evening.
Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga
Police have arrested more than 1,500 striking noon meal workers in the two districts on Friday, when they staged road blockades, pressing a charter of demands.
After observing a fast on Thursday, the workers who launched an indefinite strike, blocked roads in front of the Union office in Ramanathapuram and near the bus stand in Sivaganga as part of their picketing agitation.
The workers were detained in marriage halls and released in the evening, police said.
Meanwhile, the administrations made alternative arrangements and supplied noon meal to more than 1.80 lakh school students in the two districts.
