Jammu: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday announced the formation of a committee to address the issue of regularisation of daily wagers in Jammu and Kashmir and said that a roadmap will be prepared for presentation in the next budget session before the House.
This announcement was made by the chief minister while replying to the motion of thanks on the budget address in the Assembly.
“We want to reassure the daily-rated workers, ad-hoc, and casual workers that we have not forgotten them. I am announcing the committee in front of the Assembly, headed by the Chief Secretary, and will be issuing the official order today after my budget speech,” Abdullah told the House.
He said that the committee will include the Additional Chief Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, along with the Secretaries of the Planning, GAD, and Law departments as members, and it will be headed by the Chief Secretary.
“The committee will be given six months to thoroughly review the number of daily-wagers through GAD and assess the legal and financial aspects of their regularisation,” he added.
He noted that the Law department has a key role to play after the Supreme Court’s judgment on the issue. “They will be asked to prepare a framework within six months. They should fix the figures. After assessing all aspects, including legal and financial, they should prepare a roadmap on how to proceed, so that in the next budget session, I can stand before you and say, ‘This is what we are going to do,’” he said.
Earlier in the day, BJP members staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly following a ruckus, as the saffron party and National Conference (NC) members engaged in verbal duels over widespread protests, cane charges, and detentions of daily wage employees from the Jal Shakti Department. The workers were demanding the release of their wages and regularization.
There are an estimated 67,000 daily wagers in various categories in Jammu.
Abdullah acknowledged the plight of daily wagers and ad-hoc workers, calling their struggle a “social and humanitarian issue” rather than just a financial matter for the government.
Responding to criticism in the Assembly, Abdullah admitted past failures in addressing their regularisation. “BJP member Balwant Singh Mankotia asked why the situation reached this point. I, too, wonder why things turned out this way for them. I admit that we did nothing, and that is precisely why we lost in 2014,” he said.
He mentioned that his government had taken steps to regularize these workers but could not complete the process. “We had finalised the procedure and numbers, but it could not happen. After that, when you came into power, what did you do?” he asked the opposition, BJP.
In a counterattack, Abdullah cited multiple budget speeches from the previous government (BJP-PDP) since 2015, arguing that they, too, had promised regularisation but failed to deliver. “They formulated an SRO for regularization at the fag end of the fourth budget. However, in four budget years, they managed to regularize only 570 out of approximately 61,000 such workers,” he said.
He further noted that after the fall of Mehbooba Mufti’s government, the SRO was scrapped under the J&K Reorganisation Act two years ago, closing the door for regularization. “Now, you ask why they came onto the streets? This was bound to happen because their path to regularisation was completely shut,” he said.
Declaring a fresh start, Abdullah announced, “We are starting from zero. There is neither an SRO nor any framework in place for it.”
‘Budget has laid foundation of robust future for J&K’
CM Omar Abdullah defends his maiden budget, says it makes no unrealistic promises
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday termed the budget as the “foundation of a robust future for Jammu and Kashmir” and asserted that his government never said it would fulfill everything in the first budget itself.
The chief minister, while speaking in the Assembly, also said the budget is a “love letter” to the people of J&K as well as political parties.
Dismissing criticism that his government’s budget is pessimistic, he said, “If I were truly pessimistic, I would have said the wounds are so deep that death is the only solution, or that there is no balm available. But instead, I acknowledged the wounds and said we will apply balm where it is needed.”
Referring to opposition comments that his speeches were being labelled as “love letters”, Abdullah said “whenever I speak, they call it a love letter. Fine, what can I do? If my budget speech is also being called a love letter, then so be it.”
He further said, “Yes, it is a love letter to the BJP. It is a love letter to the Congress. It is a love letter to the National Conference, PDP, the People’s Conference, CPIM, and independents. Most importantly, it is a love letter to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Defending his sentiment, he said, “Why do you write a love letter? It is meant to express love. And yes, I love the people of Jammu and Kashmir immensely. I try my best to contribute to their well-being. I am not ashamed of writing a love letter. If God keeps me alive, I will continue writing this love letter for the next five years.”
Rejecting claims that his speech started on a pessimistic note, the chief minister said he simply stated the truth. “The body has wounds, and we must decide where to apply the healing balm.”
He emphasized the financial constraints of the Union Territory, saying “if we had enough funds, our situation would have been different today. Do I have the money to take over all power projects and start work immediately? No. Can I provide free electricity to everyone? No. We don’t even have the budget to ensure uninterrupted 24-hour electricity.”
Highlighting the budget’s approach, Abdullah said “there is a saying ‘cut your coat according to your cloth’. That is what we have done. We did not make unrealistic promises. We did not exaggerate.”
He said the government carefully formulated this budget to ensure that social measures do not have an adverse impact on the people. “This budget will not lead to massive inflation.”
On his party’s election promises, he said, “We remember them better than anyone else. We are committed to fulfilling every single one of them.”
Terming the budget as the foundation of a robust future for J&K, he said, “We never said we would fulfill everything in the first budget itself. We said we would lay a strong foundation. That was the purpose of this budget — to send a message to the people that we have not forgotten anything. We stand firm on our promises.”
He justified prioritizing the poor, and said, “We started by helping the poorest. Did we make a mistake? Should we have helped the richest first instead? Just as when building a house, you start with a solid foundation, we have begun in the same way. Over time, this structure will take shape.”
Abdullah also took a swipe at opposition BJP member Balwant Mankotia.
“Like an opening batsman, he stepped onto the field, fully prepared — gloves on, helmet on. But soon, I got confused. He stepped onto a cricket field but started playing football instead. The discussion was on the budget, but he spent 20 minutes on political talk and only five minutes addressing the budget,” he said.
The chief minister said that after the Lt Governor’s speech, he did not respond immediately.
“But when I finally did, I heard that things got tense. Apparently, the principal opposition party faced a lot of criticism. Their leaders from New Delhi and here, too, pulled them up for allowing us to change the narrative,” he said.
He reiterated his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting Jammu and Kashmir. “Why should I not thank the people who support us? I reiterate my thanks to the PM for the support.”
Defending his government’s budget, he said it accommodated most welfare measures, particularly for women. “We started this budget by ensuring benefits for the underprivileged sections. Should we have started with the rich instead?”
He said the biggest takeaway from this budget is that it is the first budget made by a democratically elected government and will be passed by elected members in the Assembly instead of Parliament.
“It was discussed here, not in Parliament. Everyone, including you (BJP members), has taken part in discussion on it. It will be decided and passed by elected members here. We want to restore the dignity of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Abdullah acknowledged that J&K’s budget is a burden on the central budget but added that it is not entirely dependent on the Centre.
Referring to various components of the budget, he said J&K is financially dependent on the Centre, but efforts are being made for self-sufficiency.
“For works worth Rs 35,000 crore, we have to spend Rs 70,000 crore as salaries. If to sell products worth Rs 35,000 crore, a company has to pay Rs 70,000 crore, how can the company run?” he asked. (With inputs from PTI)
