Shimla, June 23 -- Mid-day meal workers across Himachal observed a statewide strike on Monday and staged a protest in Shimla, demanding higher honorarium, implementation of a 12-month salary system, pension and gratuity benefits, social security coverage, and a policy for regularisation. Under the banner of the CITU-affiliated Mid-Day Meal Workers Union, women workers from different districts of the state gathered in the capital and marched in a protest rally from Talland to the state secretariat (about 3 km). The demonstrators raised slogans against both the central and state governments, accusing them of ignoring their long-pending demands. The workers alleged that despite playing a crucial role in implementing the mid-day meal scheme in government schools, they have been forced to work for years on meagre honorariums. CITU state vice-president Sudesh Thakur said that the workers currently receive between Rs.4,000 and Rs.4,500 per month, which they described as insufficient to sustain families amid rising inflation and increasing living costs. The protestors further alleged that salaries are often delayed for months and that despite working throughout the year, they are paid for only ten months. "In today's inflationary environment, it is impossible to run a family on Rs. 4,000 to Rs.4,500 a month. Prices of diesel, petrol, cooking gas and other essential commodities have increased continuously, but there has been no significant increase in our honorarium for years," she said. She also criticised the central government, alleging that honorariums for Mid-Day Meal workers had not been revised for several years despite rising living costs. Thakur pointed out that the Himachal high court had ruled in favour of providing Mid-day Meal workers with salaries for all 12 months along with leave benefits, but claimed that the government had chosen to challenge the matter rather than implement the judgment....