Two mid-day meal cooks die as wage hike protest escalates in Chhattisgarh

Two women mid-day meal cooks participating in an ongoing protest for higher wages in Chhattisgarh’s New Raipur have died after their health deteriorated, casting a grim shadow over the month-long agitation.

Rukmani Sinha, in her 50s and a resident of Balod district, died at a hospital in Rajnandgaon on January 26. Dulari Yadav, in her early 60s from Bemetara district, died a day later at a private hospital in Bhilai.

Both were part of the Chhattisgarh School Madhyanh Bhojan Rasoiya Sanyukta Sangh, which has been demanding an increase in daily wages from ₹66 to ₹340.

The deaths came even as the state government announced a marginal daily wage hike of ₹16.6, a move the protesting cooks have termed “grossly inadequate”.

Yadav’s grandson Gaukaran Yadav was quoted as saying by Indian Express that his grandmother had joined the protest on January 23. “Three days later, we received a call from the Sangh saying her health had worsened and that she had been referred to the Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhilai. On January 27, before we could even speak to her, she died. She had no health issues earlier,” he said, adding that she had complained of breathlessness.

A doctor at the Shankaracharya hospital said Yadav was suffering from pneumonia. “She had severe breathing problems for about a week, acidosis and low blood pressure. She was brought in a critical condition and had to be put on a ventilator immediately. There was a significant delay in bringing her to the hospital, and we could not save her,” the doctor said.

Sinha returned home from the protest on January 24 after feeling unwell. “We thought it was due to exhaustion or lack of sleep and did not pay much attention initially. But her condition worsened that night, and we rushed her to the Balod hospital, which referred her to Rajnandgaon medical college,” her son-in-law Mukesh Kumar said. She died on January 26.

Dr Pawan Jethani, Deputy Superintendent of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Medical College, said Sinha was diabetic and had arrived with critically high blood sugar levels. “She had multiple health complications, which cannot be disclosed. Due to these issues, she suffered a cardiac arrest,” he said.

The deaths have intensified pressure on the state government as the protest by thousands of mid-day meal cooks—among the lowest-paid workers in the public welfare system—continues with no immediate resolution in sight.