Govt school mid-day meal staff accused of caste discrimination, officials reject claims

A group of people belonging to the Dalit community have alleged caste-based discrimination by the cooking staff of a government high school in Karakalli village in Yadgiri district.

- Coovercolly Indresh

BENGALURU: However, the district officials have rejected the allegations and asserted that the matter was resolved.

Dalit leader Gurulingappa Doddamani said that he received information from some students of the community that two people of the cooking staff, Siddamma Hiremath and Shambhavi Naikodi, had refused to clean the plates used by Dalit students, despite receiving a salary of ₹3,000.

"A donor provided 200 steel plates to the school but the staff openly declared that they would not wash plates used by Dalit students. Following the dispute, the staff locked the kitchen and left, disrupting the mid-day meal service for two to three days," he said.