CHENNAI: Former chief minister and expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam on Saturday urged the DMK government to immediately disburse the salaries for women staff working in the state’s school breakfast scheme.
Stating that Chief Minister has often spoken with pride about the breakfast scheme and recently expanded it to government-aided urban schools, Panneerselvam, in a statement, said, “To implement this, in schools with one hundred children, orders were given to appoint one woman staff for a monthly salary of Rs 1,500, to serve breakfast.” Those staff are yet to get their salaries, the former Chief Minister said.
He claimed the duty timings for these women were fixed from 7 am to 10 am. In addition to serving and distributing the food, they are made responsible for cleaning up after service, he added. “These women have been carrying out this work since August 26,” he pointed out.
Claiming that in ordinary households, women were paid up to Rs 3,000 per month for just one hour of work, he said that the breakfast scheme staff are getting less salary for more work. “For preparing, serving, and cleaning up meals for one hundred people, a three-hour job, only a meagre sum is being paid,” he said.
“The state government should take steps to pay the pending salaries to the women staff engaged under the breakfast scheme without any delay,” he said.