Untouchability in Uttarakhand school: Children refuse to eat food prepared by Dalit women; Parents said – this recruitment was done intentionally

Upper caste students in Uttarakhand’s Champawat district have refused to eat food cooked by a Dalit woman. On this, a controversy has arisen in the state regarding social discrimination and caste prejudice. Sunita Devi, a Scheduled Caste, was recently appointed as a Bhojanmata in the Government Secondary School at Jaul village in Sukhidhang area. He was entrusted with the task of preparing mid-day meals for the students of classes 6 to 8.

School principal Prem Singh told that on the first day of Sunita’s joining, upper caste students had had food. However, from the second day onwards, they started boycotting the food. Why students are doing this is beyond comprehension. Out of a total of 57 students, only 16 children belonging to the Scheduled Castes had their meals.

Principal said – appointment was made according to government norms
Principal Singh said that he was appointed as per all government norms. “We had received 11 applications for the post of Bhojanmata. He was selected in the open meeting of the Parent Teacher Association and the School Management Committee held in the first week of December.

It is known that in government schools, arrangements have been made for mid-day meals to increase the attendance of students and to provide nutritious food to them. There are two posts of cooks in Sukhidhang High School. Sunita Devi was appointed after the retirement of Shakuntala Devi.

Allegation of not selecting a suitable candidate from upper caste
The parents of the students who boycotted the food have accused the management committee and the principal regarding this. He says that the deserving candidate of the upper caste was not selected deliberately. Narendra Joshi, president of the school’s parent-teacher association, said, “In the open meeting held on November 25, we selected Pushpa Bhatt, whose child studies in the school. She was also in need, but was sidelined by the principal and the school management committee. And appointed a Dalit woman as Bhojanmata.”

‘Unnecessary controversy being created’
Joshi said that the number of upper caste students is more than the scheduled caste students, so upper caste woman should be appointed as Bhojanmata. At the same time, Principal Singh said that he has informed the higher officials about the appointment and the subsequent boycott. Some parents are creating unnecessary controversy.