Police foil casual-laborers’, daily-wagers’ protest in Srinagar; dozens arrested
Srinagar : Police on Monday detained dozens of casual and daily-wage employees after foiling their protest against the government’s alleged failure vis-à-vis their demands, including implementation of Minimum Wages Act and regularization of 60,000 odd temporary employees.
Clad in shrouds, the slogan-shouting temporary employees gathered at Press Enclave here under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Casual Laborers Forum (JKCLF) to protest government’s failure to fulfill their demands.
Protesting employees said the successive regimes have time and again failed to fulfill their promises with regards to the implementation of Minimum Wages Act and regularization of more than 60,000 temporary employees.
They said two of their colleagues died in the line of duty on the occasion of Eid, however the government did not extended any help to the families of the deceased. They alleged that Lieutenant Governor administration also failed to fulfill the “legitimate” demands of temporary employees.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed at Press Enclave when police swooped on the venue and detained dozens of protesters including their president Sajjad Ahmad Parray after they attempted to march towards Lal Chowk. The employees were kept under preventive detention at nearby Kothibagh police station.
“This is joint protest of temporary employees of both provinces against government’s failure to fulfill our demands. In Jammu, protest was held under the banner of All J&K Casual Laborers United Front. Our aim to assemble and protest to impress upon the government to consider our demands,” said Parray before being detained.
He threatened that daily-wage and casual laborers along with their families would be forced to flood streets across Kashmir and Jammu provinces in case the government failed to fulfill their demands within next 10 days.
