Three months after introducing reservation for SC/STs through a roster system in appointment of cooks for the mid-day meal scheme, the state government has withdrawn the order, following several incidents of boycott of these cooks by students, withdrawal of wards by parents, and even violent protests against their appointment.
The official reason given by the Education Department is that the roster system was only applicable to regular government jobs, while cooks under the mid-day meal scheme were on contract. “Applying reservation system on a roster basis for appointment of cooks for the mid-day meal scheme was a mistake. These cooks are contractual employees who get just Rs 1,000 as honorarium,” D C Kanaujia, Director of Basic Education, said.
While the roster system is out, Kanaujia added, SC/ST candidates would get priority in appointment of cooks.
On April 24, 2010, the state government had announced fresh guidelines for appointment of cooks under the mid-day meal scheme, and also the system of reservation. While there was no reservation for schools with just one cook, in schools with more than one cook, reservation was to be done on the basis of a roster.
So if there were four posts, say, the first post was reserved for SC/STs, the second was unreserved, the third was for OBCs, and the fourth unreserved. It was to go so on for additional cooks.