Chandigarh, Aug. 28 -- The Punjab school education department is grappling with an ageing workforce of cooks-cum-helpers engaged in government schools across the state under the PM Poshan Shakti Nirman Scheme (PM Poshan). According to official estimates, of the nearly 44,500 cooks-cum-helpers in the government schools, approximately 10,000 (about 22%) are above the age of 60 years due to the absence of any guidelines related to retirement age. A study has flagged the impact of this on the operational efficiency. "It has been observed that very old females are working in schools as cooks-cum-helpers. It is a challenge to take work from them. Sometimes, they are not able to work properly due to various health issues," the audit report pointed out. The social audit was carried out by Panjab University, Chandigarh. P3...