The government has sanctioned salary and festival allowance for cooks under the school mid-day meal scheme.
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Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty, in a statement on Wednesday, said the cooks were sanctioned ₹6,000 each in August. Accordingly, ₹8.25 crore was distributed this month.
Moreover, festival allowance of ₹1,300 each too was distributed to them. An amount of ₹1.78 crore was spent on this account.
A total of 13,766 cooks are employed under the scheme in the State. An amount of ₹17.5 crore is needed for their monthly pay. Though the Union and the State governments share this cost, the Central share has not been allowed since the second term in the 2021-22 academic year.
Taking into account the importance of pay for the cooking staff, the State government increased its share in the pay for June and July this year, the Minister said.