Historic decision of Yogi government! Service manual will be made for school cooks, contract workers will get benefits

Lucknow: A very big and relief news is coming for lakhs of cooks who prepare mid-day meal (MDM) for small children studying in government basic schools of Uttar Pradesh. Yogi government is now going to take a great step to secure the future of these cooks. The government is now working very fast towards preparing a proper service rules for all these cooks working in schools.

In this new manual, not only are the necessary conditions related to their job and service being decided, but the most important thing is that their retirement i.e. determining the age of retirement is also being considered very seriously. It is believed that after this new and historic system is fully implemented, the cooks of the schools will also start getting direct benefits of many big government facilities and benefits like the contractual workers working in other departments of the state.

Retirement age can be 62 years

In the special proposal being prepared by the Midday Meal Authority for the welfare of cooks, a big suggestion is being given to keep the maximum age of retirement of cooks at 62 years. Let us tell you that till now there is no fixed age limit for retirement for these cooks in Uttar Pradesh. Due to this, very old cooks are working continuously in many government schools, while on the other hand, the local village education committees have full right to remove them from their posts at any time. But after the formulation of the new service rules of the government, it is expected that there will be a big change in this old and stereotyped system.

Very important scheme related to children and cooks

Under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, fresh and cooked hot food is provided to children on a daily basis on a large scale in all government and council schools of Uttar Pradesh. At present, thousands of cooks are shouldering the entire responsibility of providing nutritious food on time to lakhs of children of the state. This is the reason why the role of these cooks is considered very important and fundamental in better nutrition of school children, their health and smooth running of the entire primary education system.

What will change after the formation of service rules?

If this new service manual of the government is fully implemented in the state, then many important things regarding the working methods and rights of the cooks will become clear forever. With its implementation, first of all a fixed age of retirement of cooks will be fixed. Along with this, they can also get the provision to take advantage of important government holidays available throughout the year.

The new rules will bring transparency and clarity in the entire process of their appointment in schools and all the strict rules related to the job will be fixed. The biggest benefit will be that after this, the arbitrariness of local village committees in the matter of firing or hiring cooks will be completely stopped. Talking about the current situation, at present these cooks are not able to get many basic facilities, which include special leave and other important service benefits.

Big decision may also be taken on honorarium and holidays

At present, these cooks in Uttar Pradesh are given a fixed salary every month, but there are no clear government rules yet regarding their total period of service and other working conditions. Now it is also being considered at the government level that on the lines of other contract workers in the state, these cooks should also be given regular honorarium for the full 11 months. Apart from this, keeping in mind the women chefs, there is every possibility of making strict rules regarding very important and humane facilities like maternity leave and child care leave for taking care of children.

The process gained huge momentum after high level meetings

Following the various demands made by the cooks and their peaceful demonstrations for a long time, several important rounds of meetings were organized at the level of senior officials of the government. As a positive outcome of these serious meetings, the Mid Day Meal Authority has now been officially asked to prepare a complete draft and proposal of a strong service manual for the cooks. Now, as soon as this final proposal is completely prepared by the department, immediately after that it will be sent to the cabinet and the top level of the government for final approval, where further major decisions will be taken on it.