Dalit cook sacked after upper caste students refuse to eat food prepared by her

A Dalit woman who served mid-day meal at a government secondary school in Uttarakhand’s Champawat district was allegedly removed from her job after upper caste students refused to eat the meal cooked by her. The incident occurred at a school in Sukhidhang in Champawat district. A day after her appointment as the ‘Bhojanmata’ earlier this month, students stopped eating the meal cooked by her because of her caste and began bringing their food from home in tiffin boxes. Reportedly, out of 66 students in the school 40 had refused to eat the meal prepared by her.

Even the parents of the students objected to her appointment as ‘Bhojanmata’ when an upper caste woman had also been interviewed for the job. However, Chief Education Officer of Champawat R C Purohit said her appointment had been canceled as it was found that the norms had not been followed in her appointment. ”Higher authorities had not cleared her appointment. Still she was given the job,” he said. A temporary replacement for her has been found, he said.