Two midday meal cooks who were part of an ongoing protest demanding an increase in wages in Chhattisgarh’s Atal Nagar-Nava Raipur have died after their health deteriorated, PTI quoted their family members as saying on Wednesday. The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state has denied a direct connection between the deaths and the protest by the midday meal cooks, which entered its 31st day on Wednesday. The midday meal programme under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman is a centrally-sponsored scheme that is aimed at providing nutritious meals to students enrolled in government and aided schools. “They said she has been referred to the Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhilai,” the newspaper quoted Gaukaran Yadav as saying. The state government remains sensitive to the health, safety and welfare of all midday meal cooks and continues to take necessary steps in their interest, PTI quoted the statement as saying.