On 13 February 2013, more than 2,000 mid-day meal workers from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and Uttarakhand marched to Parliament, demanding that the 45th ILC recommendation benefitting them be implemented. The demonstrators also demanded immediate increase in remuneration up to minimum wages, and payment for all 12 months through zero balance bank accounts. The march, organised under the banner of All India Coordination Committee of Mid-day Meal Workers of CITU,was a way of demanding 180 days of paid maternity wages, not privatisingMid-day Meal Scheme (MDMS), ensuring the safety of mid-day meal workers and providing them medical insurance. Mid-day meal workers must be covered under the Janshree Beema Yojna.


Nearly 26 lakh workers, mostly women belonging to backward sections of society, are employed in the mid-day meal programme of the Government of India, which provides nutritious food to crores of school-going children in our country. They work at least 6–8 hours every day, and are neither recognised as workers nor paidadequate wages. They are paid a pittance of Rs 1,000 a month, and that too only for ten months in a year. They are not provided any social security.


The 45th ILC, held in May 2013, recommended that mid-day meal workers be recognised as workers, paid minimum wages and social security, including pension. The HRD Ministry had assured the 45th ILC that the remuneration of mid-day meal workers will be enhanced in 2013–14. But this has not been implemented so far.


The march was flagged off by ComradeTapan Sen MP (General Secretary, CITU) at Jantar Mantar. He called upon the mid-day meal workers to carry on their struggle, to keep the issues on the agenda of the nation and political parties.
A.R. Sindhu, convener AICCMDMW (CITU), said that the workers will launch more agitations if the government does not increase their wages, with effect from April 2013, and will continue the struggle for regularisation, minimum wages and pension.