New variant of untouchability in Uttarakhand: Savarna children did not eat food prepared by Dalit cooks, now Dalits are not eating food prepared by upper castes

A serious case of untouchability among children has come to light in a government school in Sukhidhang village of Champawat district in Uttarakhand. The upper caste students of the school refused to eat the food prepared by the Dalit cook. Now a new twist has come in the matter. The Dalit students of the school have refused to eat the food prepared by the upper caste cook. This has been revealed in a letter sent by the school’s principal Prem Singh to the education department.

It has been said in the letter that there is such a discussion among the children that if the general class students hate the food cooked by the Dalit cook, then they too will not eat the food cooked by the general class cook. They will bring food from their home for lunch. After this matter came to light, the Chief Minister of the state Pushkar Singh Dhami has asked Kumaon DIG Nilesh Anand Bharan to visit the school and investigate the incident and take strict action against the culprits.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered an inquiry into the case of untouchability among students in the school.

First upper caste students refused to eat
In this school in Uttarakhand, upper caste students refused to eat food cooked by a Dalit cook. These students started coming to school with home cooked food for lunch. In view of this, the Dalit woman was removed from the job and a woman from the general category was appointed in her place. In this case, officials say that Cook was removed not because of the boycott of upper caste students, but because his appointment was not according to the norms.

Dalit woman was appointed as cook
Sunita Devi, a Scheduled Caste, was appointed as a food mother a few days ago in a government school in Jaul village in Sukhidhang area. He was entrusted with the task of preparing mid-day meals for the students of classes 6 to 8.

The school’s principal Singh told that on the first day of Sunita’s joining, upper caste students had had food. However, from the second day onwards, they started boycotting the food. Why students are doing this is beyond comprehension. Out of a total of 57 students, 16 children belonging to the Scheduled Castes ate food prepared by his hands.

The parents’ association of the school has alleged that the general caste woman cook was not chosen deliberately.

Allegation of not selecting a suitable candidate from upper caste
The parents of the students who boycotted the food have accused the management committee and the principal regarding this. He says that the deserving candidate of the upper caste was not selected deliberately. Narendra Joshi, president of the school’s parent-teacher association, said, “In the open meeting held on November 25, we selected Pushpa Bhatt, whose child studies in the school. She was also in need, but was sidelined by the principal and the school management committee. And appointed a Dalit woman as Bhojan Mata.”

In government schools, arrangements have been made for mid-day meals to increase the attendance of students and to provide nutritious food to them. There are two posts of cooks in Sukhidhang High School. Sunita Devi was appointed after the retirement of the already working cook Shakuntala Devi.