500–600 Midday Meal Cooks Booked for ‘Rioting’ During Protest Over Wages in Chhattisgarh

Raipur. Around 500–600 midday meal cooks working in government schools across Chhattisgarh have been booked on charges of rioting and wrongful restraint following a protest march and road blockade in New Raipur on Thursday and Friday. The workers were demanding a revision of their daily honorarium from ₹66 to at least ₹261.

The cooks are employed under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-Poshan) scheme and have been protesting continuously for the past 34 days at Tuta Ground, the designated protest site in New Raipur. The agitation is being led by the Chhattisgarh School Madhyanbhojan Rasoiya Sanyukta Sangh, which represents midday meal workers across the state.

According to association secretary Meghraj Baghel, the workers had earlier met the Education Minister and demanded a daily wage of ₹440, but the government offered only a ₹500 monthly hike, which was rejected by the union.
“We then reduced our demand to at least ₹261 per day, which is the wage paid under MGNREGA, but even that was refused,” Baghel said.

On Thursday night, hundreds of protesting cooks marched from Tuta Ground towards the Secretariat (Mantralaya). Police stopped the march by erecting barricades. When the protesters refused to disperse, they sat on the main road, leading to a traffic disruption on a key arterial route connecting New Raipur.

An officer from Abhanpur police station said repeated requests were made to clear the road, but the protesters did not comply.
“An FIR has been registered, though no arrests have been made so far,” the officer said.

The FIR has been lodged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — Section 126(2) (wrongful restraint) and Section 191(2) (rioting).

However, the Sanyukta Sangh rejected the charge of rioting, stating that the protest was entirely peaceful.
“We did not damage or touch any public property. Yes, the road was blocked, but there was no rioting. These sections have been wrongly applied,” the union president said.

Initially, the cooks had demanded an increase in their daily wages from ₹66 to ₹440, but later moderated their demand to ₹261 per day, seeking parity with MGNREGA workers.

Questioning the government’s stand, Meghraj Baghel said the current remuneration was grossly inadequate.
“We work for four to five hours every day, and ₹66 is simply not enough. Our wages have not kept pace with inflation,” he said.