Two midday meal cooks who were part of an ongoing protest demanding an increase in wages in Chhattisgarh’s Atal Nagar-Nava Raipur have died after their health deteriorated, PTI quoted their family members as saying on Wednesday.
Rukmani Sinha, in her 50s and a resident of Balod district, died at a hospital in the adjoining Rajnandgaon district on Monday. Dulari Yadav, in her early 60s and from Bemetara, died a day later at a hospital in Durg district’s Bhilai, The Indian Express reported.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state has denied a direct connection between the deaths and the protest by the midday meal cooks, which entered its 31st day on Wednesday.
The midday meal programme under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman is a centrally-sponsored scheme that is aimed at providing nutritious meals to students enrolled in government and aided schools.
Since December 29, thousands of midday meal cooks, mostly women, under the banner of the Chhattisgarh School Madhyanh Bhojan Rasoiya Sanyukta Sangh, have been staging a sit-in protest at Tuta Dharna Sthala in Atal Nagar-Nava Raipur, demanding an increase in their daily honorarium to over Rs 400 from Rs 66.
On Wednesday, PTI quoted Rukmani Sinha’s son-in-law Mukesh Kumar Sinha as saying that the midday meal cook, who was a resident of Balod’s Kusumkasa village, had taken part in the protest between January 20 and January 23, and returned home on January 24 after complaining of health-related complications.
Mukesh Kumar Sinha said that Rukmani Sinha was admitted to the district hospital in Balod on Sunday and was later referred to Rajnandgaon Medical College and Hospital. She died on Monday afternoon, he added.
He said that she suffered from blood pressure-related issues.
Dulari Yadav’s grandson Gaukaran Yadav told The Indian Express that his grandmother had gone to the protest on January 23. Three days later, the family received a call from the Chhattisgarh School Madhyanh Bhojan Rasoiya Sanyukta Sangh saying that her health had worsened.
“They said she has been referred to the Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhilai,” the newspaper quoted Gaukaran Yadav as saying. “On January 27, before we could speak with her, she died.”
Gaukaran Yadav said that his grandmother had no health issues, but she had complained of being unable to breathe.
Meanwhile, the state Directorate of Public Instruction said that representatives of the protesters had held discussions with officials, including the director and secretary of the School Education Department, reported PTI.
The state government had informed them during these talks of the decision to raise the honorarium by 25% and called for an end to the protest, according to the statement. The 25% hike amounted to Rs 500, or an increase of about Rs 17 per day.
The Directorate of Public Instruction added that Rukmani Sinha had attended the protest on January 20 and January 21 but later returned home, where she fell ill and was admitted to a government hospital.
It added that Dulari Yadav was already suffering from a serious illness and was admitted to a hospital in Bhilai, where she died.
The deaths in both cases had no direct connection with the ongoing protest, claimed the authorities.
The state government remains sensitive to the health, safety and welfare of all midday meal cooks and continues to take necessary steps in their interest, PTI quoted the statement as saying.
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