JHARKHAND mid-day meal workers (Rasoiyas) have launched a decisive battle against the government for their 15-point charter of demands: reinstate all sacked Rasoiyas and Sanyojikas; give Class IV government employee status to Rasoiyas-Sanyojikas as in Tamil Nadu; Rs 18000 minimum wage per month for all Rasoiyas-Sanyojikas as declared by the Central government; re-open the 350 schools that have earlier been closed down; revoke the Jharkhand government’s decision to close down 10,000 schools and immediately re-open the 10,000 schools (out of a total of 42,000) closed down by the government; speedy payment of 8 months’ arrears due to Rasoiyas; Rs 5 lakh free life insurance; guarantee that school teachers will not be made to do any work other than teaching work. From 25 September 2018 the Rasoiyas have been holding an indefinite ‘Dera Dalo Ghera Dalo’ agitation in front of the Governor of Jharkhand.
The reality is that the Jharkhand government has made up its mind to implement a scheme to hand over the mid-day meal government scheme to private companies. According to this scheme, a single private company will prepare mid-day meals at a single centre for 1 lakh children. It is believed that as it will take a long time to prepare 1 lakh meals at a single centre, the quality of the food will be affected. So, in order to preserve the quality, chemicals will be added to the food. This will have a dangerous effect on the physical as well as mental health of the children. Keeping this in view, this agitation by the Rasoiyas has taken the form of a do-or-die decisive battle. Thus the agitation has been sharpened and strengthened because the question of children’s health and education is now a major factor along with the question of financial security and regular jobs for the Rasoiyas.
The indefinite dharna was going on at Raj Bhavan since 25 September. An average of 150-200 Rasoiyas-Sanyojikas attended the dharna daily. But the Rasoiyas’ anger escalated as the Raj Bhavan paid no heed to their agitation. Another cause for the anger was also that this agitation has been going on serially for the last 3 years but the Raghubar government has paid no heed. Finally, as per the decision of the Rasoiya Sangh, 5000-7000 Rasoiyas (and some Sanyojikas) marched from the Morahabadi Maidan in Ranchi to the Chief Minister’s house to stage a gherao. The police had placed barricades on the road and tried to stop the rally. But the Rasoiyas did not stop, and moved forward breaking the barricade. Almost at a run, the protesters reached the Ram Dayal Munda Park near the Guest House, when the police let loose a brutal lathi charge on them. Male police hit the women Rasoiyas with lathis and chased them, beating them all the while. Even with small infants in their arms, the women bravely opposed the beatings of the police. They held firm to their protest and lay prone on the ground, jamming the crossroads in front of the Guest House. The road remained blocked for 4 hours till the officials agreed to take a delegation of Rasoiya Sangh President and 7 other members to the Chief Minister’s house for talks. But the talks were a failure. The leaders of the Rasoiya Sangh insisted on talks directly with the Chief Minister himself, and 12 October was fixed as the date for talks with the CM.
Dozens of Rasoiyas were injured in the lathi charge, of whom 2 were seriously injured and admitted in hospital. The Sangh declared that from 10 October onwards Rasoiyas (mid-day meal workers) would be on an indefinite strike in protest against the brutal lathi charge on peacefully protest. About 2 lakh Rasoiyas would be on strike until their demands are not met, and mid-day meals would not be prepared in schools. This declaration was implemented from 10 October and the Rasoiyas went on a state-wide strike. Despite this, the Chief Minister did not give them time for talks, and on 13 October 9000-10,000 Rasoiyas jammed the main crossroads of Ranchi city for more than 3 hours.
The state-wide strike by the Rasoiyas is still continuing. According to the Sangh President, the strike will take a sharper and stronger turn when schools re-open after Dussehra vacations on 22-23 October. He also said that para teachers’ organizations and government school teachers’ organizations have assured full support to the strike. This entire agitation was conducted by the Jharkhand State School Rasoiya Sanyojika Sangh led by President Com. Ajit Prajjapati, General Secretary Com. Premnath Vishwakarma, and Treasurer Com. Anita Devi.
Protest against Lathi Charge on Rasoiyas
Effigy burnings of the Chief Minister Raghubar Das were held in Ranchi, Dhanbad, and Nirsa Collieries under the banner of AICCTU on 10 October 2018 to protest against the brutal lathi charge by the police on peacefully protesting Rasoiyas during their gherao of the CM’s house, and to express solidarity with the Rasoiyas’ demands. At Ranchi, a protest march was organized from the State Office led by AICCTU General Secretary Com. Shubhendu Sen and State Secretary Com. Bhuvaneshwar Kewat. The march culminated in a protest meeting and effigy burning of the CM at Albert Ekka Chowk.
A protest march and effigy burning of the Chief Minister was organized at Randhir Verma Chowk, Dhanbad. The protest was addressed and attended by AICCTU District Secretary Com. Kartik Prasad, CPI (ML) District Secretary Com. Nakul Dev Singh, Rasoiya Sangh District Secretary Com. Sumitra Das, comrades Saroj Devi, Munna Khan, Siddheshwar Prasad, and a large number of women and men.
Jharkhand CM Raghubar Prasad’s effigy was burnt at Belchadhi, Nirsa. Speakers at the protest said that the lathi charge on the Rasoiyas peacefully protesting to demand their rights was totally wrong and brutal, and resulted in grievous injuries to dozens of Rasoiyas. Many are admitted in hospital. The Jharkhand government has not even given them minimum wages yet, leave alone other rightful facilities. Their struggle has been going on for a long time. The government must answer: is this what you mean by ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’? Honorarium workers will surely teach the government a resounding lesson in the coming elections.
