Jammu: Hundreds of daily wage employees of the Jal Shakti department staged a protest here on Thursday, demanding the government release the report of the committee set up by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the regularisation of their services.
The PHE Employees United Front, Jammu, urged the chief minister to table the committee report in the Assembly.
The workers’ body also threatened to hold an aggressive protest on October 27 if their demands are not met, asserting that daily wagers have been struggling for over two decades for the regularisation of their services.
Amid slogans of “We want justice”, the workers held a dharna demonstration at the Jal Shakti office in the city on the first day of the autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
The daily wage staff said they would continue their protest for regularisation and implementation of the Minimum Wages Act.
“We have held protests for over 1,200 days, but the government has failed to fulfil our demand for the regularisation of daily wagers. On the first day of the assembly session, we want to remind the government about our demand and seek the fate of the committee report,” PHE Employees United Front (Jammu Province) leader Ravi Hans told reporters.
He said, during the previous assembly session, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had set up a committee on the regularisation of daily wagers.
“When we were on the roads during the last session, the committee was announced by the chief minister, and a period of six months was given to it to table the report. It was to be submitted by September 19, but till now, we do not know the fate of the report,” he said.
The workers’ body demanded that the government table the report during the current session. “If the government fails to table the report in the assembly, the front will hold an aggressive protest on October 27,” he warned.
On March 19, the Jammu and Kashmir government constituted a six-member committee to examine issues related to the regularisation of daily wage workers in the Union territory.
Abdullah had announced the formation of the committee in the assembly, saying that a roadmap would be prepared for presentation in the next budget session.
The committee, headed by the chief secretary, was tasked to examine various issues, including humanitarian, legal, and financial aspects related to the regularisation of casual, seasonal labourers, and other workers in Jammu and Kashmir, and to suggest measures.
There are an estimated 67,000 daily wage workers in various departments across Jammu and Kashmir.
