Rising voice above serve mid-day meal

A SHG group of women called “jai Ambe SHG” is given responsibility to provide mid day meal to the primary school. This group belonged to SC community. A group promoted them self to give a new approach to involve local mothers, women in implementation of MDM programme. It’s a Society of dedicated women who want to serve the society and provides them a launching pad to make their own identity. Minimum 15 members are there are providing meals in approximately 150 schools students. Everything was ok when the under currents of discrimination came up, when a small group of people wanted to have the privilege of running MDMs scheme. With no reason harassment to the group was started in small –small forms, the group was suppressed to leave the scheme. But women kept waiting with courage and hope of better tomorrow. But the situation went out of hand when such situation was created which lead towards argument and as if it was planned children were not allowed to eat the cooked meal prepared by them. Some hooligans even went to the school and pressurized the principal for not allowing the group to prepare the meals. Some of them even threatened that they will not allow their children to come to school. Women belonging to the self-help group (SHG) Jai Ambe, who prepare the meal, were taken to believe that the quality of the grain supplied through the public distribution system was sub-standard. They, however, realized the real reason, the caste factor, behind the refusal of majority of students to partake the food cooked and served to them. Whenever asked as to why they were not eating the food, these students openly state that they would not eat anything prepared and served by Dalits.

In this regard KALP’s social worker along with the group contacted the sarpanch of the village and discussed the situation with him. As a leader of the village sarpanch also came forward in support of this group. Sarpanch took the lead to arrange the meeting with the leaders of the all the community and to put up this matter. Later on the matter was again put up in the meeting of parents, principal and it was decided that long time service given by this group cannot be ignored and this type of discrimination will not be supported.