Jammu: The Public Health Engineering (PHE) daily-wagers have deferred their ongoing strike for 10 days following an appeal by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and considering the upcoming Eid and Navratri festivals.
“Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had appealed in the Assembly for the employees to end the strike as it is causing inconvenience to the people. Keeping in mind the upcoming Eid and Navratri, we have decided to defer our strike for 10 days,” said Ravi Hans, leader of PHE Employees United Front, which has been spearheading the protest for the last seven days.
However, he clarified, “If our demands are not met, we will be back on the streets on April 7.”
This decision to defer the strike also followed a meeting between PHE Minister Javed Rana and protesters. In the meeting, the minister agreed to release the pending wages, one of the demands of the daily-wagers, in a phased manner.
The PHE daily-wagers have four major demands — regularisation, release of pending wages, an increase in minimum wages and compensation for those who retired at 60.
Abdullah, while responding in the Assembly on Tuesday, appealed to daily-wagers to end their strike, which has triggered a water crisis in the Union Territory, and urged them to raise their grievances with the panel set up to address them.
Hans, while speaking to reporters, informed that employees’ representatives met Rana at his residence on Tuesday and “a decision on their demands is expected within a day or two.”
The union leader, however, also issued a stern warning to the government, stating that if employees’ concerns were ignored or deceived, the administration would face serious consequences.
He further cautioned that employees would escalate their movement once the Assembly session begins.
“As soon as the Assembly session starts on April 7, our “assembly” will also begin on the streets,” he declared.
The decision to defer the strike has brought temporary relief to the public, but with a firm deadline, all eyes are now on the government’s response.
Rana termed the employees’ demands as “genuine” and said they had faced injustice for a long time.
“While I request the committee formed for regularisation to talk to them, for other demands, like pending wages amounting to Rs 400 crore, I will try to clear them in a phased manner.”
He added that he would also raise the issue in the Thursday cabinet meeting to expedite wages’ release.
On increasing minimum wages, he said, “If the Minimum Wages Act is prevailing across the country, we will try to implement it here too. Their problems are genuine and will be resolved.”
During the protest over the past few days, scores of PHE department workers and daily-wagers were baton-charged by police. Many were detained in Jammu when they marched toward the Assembly, the CM’s residence and the civil secretariat in support of their demands.
A committee headed by the chief secretary was formed last week to address the issue of regularisation of daily-wagers in the Union Territory. It will submit its recommendations to the government within six months.
