look news india
The biggest and relief news of this time is coming for lakhs of cooks who prepare nutritious and tasty mid-day meals for children in government schools of Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has once again proved through its administrative decisions that taking care of the interests of the working and needy class working at the lowest rung of the society is at the top of the government’s priorities. Under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Yojana, a formal order has now been issued to implement the increase in the honorarium of the cooks who are serving with full dedication in various council and government schools of Uttar Pradesh. According to these latest and important instructions of the state government, the cooks will start getting this big benefit of their increased salary with the salary of the upcoming month of September (which will be paid in the early days of October). This gift has brought a wave of happiness to the families of thousands of cooks across the state.
Some time ago, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had made an important announcement of a significant increase in the honorarium of the cooks handling the kitchens in the schools of the state with the aim of improving their economic conditions and giving them fair value for their hard work. After this announcement by the Chief Minister, this proposal was approved in the meeting of the State Cabinet, after which the cooks union and the concerned employees were eagerly waiting for this order to be formally implemented. Now after the completion of the administrative formalities, detailed and clear instructions have been issued from the government level to the Mid-Day Meal Authority in this regard. In these strict and prompt instructions of the government, it has been said that this increased honorarium amount should be implemented without any delay so that these hardworking workers serving at the grassroots level can get its direct financial benefits as soon as possible.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Yojana, the cooks preparing daily meals for school children used to receive very limited financial honorarium till now. Till now, according to the government system, these cooks were given an honorarium of only Rs 2000 per month, which was proving inadequate for the maintenance of them and their families in this era of rising inflation. Taking seriously the financial difficulties of the cooks and their long-standing demand, the Yogi government has taken a historic decision to directly increase their honorarium by a huge Rs 1000 per month. After this increase, now the monthly honorarium of cooks has been directly increased from Rs 2000 to Rs 3000 per month.
It has also been specifically mentioned in the guidelines issued by the government that this honorarium given to cooks is payable for a total of 10 months in a year. If we do the math accordingly, now at the increased rate i.e. Rs 3,000 per month, a total annual honorarium of Rs 30,000 (thirty thousand rupees) will be directly transferred to their bank accounts to these cooks. Whereas earlier he used to get an amount of around Rs 20,000 annually, now this increase has directly increased his annual income. This step of the government will prove to be a big economic boost for the women and other workers working in government schools in both rural and urban areas, who wholeheartedly handle the work of cooking for the children.
In the instructions sent by the government to the Mid Day Meal Authority and the District Level Basic Education Officers, clear orders have been given that compliance with this new enhanced system should be ensured with full promptness. According to the instructions, this increase of one thousand rupees per month in the honorarium of cooks will be considered effective from the month of September this year. Since the salaries of government employees and honorarium workers working under the scheme are usually made at the beginning of the next month, when this revised and increased salary for the month of September will be processed in the month of October, then an amount of Rs. 3,000 per month will be credited to the bank accounts of the cooks. The government has also instructed that no technical or administrative negligence should be done in this process and payment should be ensured in a time bound manner.
Pradhan Mantri Poshan Yojana, running in primary and upper primary schools of Uttar Pradesh, is not just a medium to serve food, but it is the biggest national campaign to increase the school attendance of children and free them from malnutrition. If there is any backbone of this entire system, then they are our cooks who reach school early in the morning and prepare fresh and hot food for the children with complete cleanliness and dedication. These women coming from rural areas have been doing this work with a spirit of service for years, despite the low honorarium. This step taken by Yogi government will not only strengthen their economic condition but will also provide them an opportunity to live a respectable life in the society. Due to this decision of the Education Department, there is an atmosphere of great enthusiasm among the chefs of the entire state and they have expressed their gratitude towards Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. This public-friendly decision of the government clearly shows that the state administration is fully committed to the development of the person standing at the last mile.