Bihar: Widow barred from cooking by villagers, returns to job after DM's intervention

Gopalganj (Bihar): A widow, who was barred by villagers from cooking midday meals for students at a government school in Bihar's Gopalgunj district, was reinstated to her job with help from the district authorities on Friday.

Residents of Kalyanpur village had not merely protested against preparation of midday meal by the widow but had even forced the school to be closed since Wednesday last.

The widow, who has two minor children, had approached Gopalganj district magistrate (DM) Rahul Kumar on Thursday. She was among six women engaged in cooking food for children in the school under midday meal scheme and was paid Rs 1000 per month as her salary.

Following the DM's intervention, the villagers withdrew their protest and the locks were removed from the school on Friday.

"I along with district education officer visited the school today and ate the midday meal prepared by the lady for students," Kumar said.

The DM said the woman had resumed her duties in the school and he had asked officials to see why the villagers stopped her from cooking food.

The government middle school in Kalyanpur, about 25 km from district headquarter and 200 km from Patna, has about 734 students from Class one to Class eight.