Zach Crawford
(ANSA) – NEW DELHI, Dec 21 – Government secondary school students in Gol village in the northeastern state of Uttarakhand have refused to eat in the canteen for a week, as the cook belongs to the Dalit caste, the former outcasts. Director Prem Singh, who heads the government institute, reported this to the media.
The woman, Sunita Devi, was recently assigned the task of cooking lunch.
“There were no objections in the early days,” says the headmaster with sincere astonishment, “but when news of the cook’s origin spread, the upper-caste families forced the boys to interrupt the meals; of a hundred students, only thirteen, also of the protected classes because they were marginalized, ate Food cooked by our chef. Others prepare their own lunch” Singh explains that the woman was appointed as per government rules and her appointment was approved by the school board, which also includes family representatives.
The episode reveals, for the umpteenth time, that “caste racism” continues in the country, despite laws that protect all Indians indiscriminately.
Parents of the students who took part in the “hunger strike” argue that the problem is not the cook’s class but the fact that it was preferred precisely because of its origin, and assert that among the candidates there was another upper class, largely best suited for this role.
The head of the Foreign Ministry of Education, RC Purwohit, said he had opened an investigation into the incident. (Dealing).
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