Warangal: Tension prevailed at endowments minister Konda Surekha’s residence in Ramnagar, Hanamkonda, on Monday when mid-day meal workers affiliated with CITU tried to lay siege to the house in protest against the government’s decision to hand over the mid-day meal scheme to the Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF).Holding placards, the workers staged a dharna in front of the minister’s house and raised slogans urging the government to withdraw its decision to allocate the scheme to APF. The APF, a non-profit organisation, implements the scheme by providing nutritious meals to students in government schools. Founded in Bengaluru in 2000 with just 1,500 children, the foundation now serves over 2 million children in around 17,000 schools across India. Speaking on the occasion, CITU district secretary Ragula Ramesh said the workers had been preparing meals for students for over 20 years, and the government’s decision would affect their livelihoods. He added that even though the government often delayed payments, the workers never stopped the scheme, using their own money to keep it running. At present, the government still owes them payment for eight months of pending bills, he pointed out. Ramesh demanded that the government reconsider its decision to hand over the scheme to APF and immediately release the workers’ pending bills. When the protesters tried to forcibly enter the minister’s house, police deployed at the site intervened and stopped them. A heated argument ensued between the protesters and the police, following which officers brought the situation under control by arresting all of them and shifting them to the Subedari Police Station.
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