No control over police, says J&K CM as Oppn walks out over cane charge on daily-wagers
BJP, NC MLAs lock horns over delay in regularising services of daily-wagers, who were stopped from marching to protest at the civil secretariat on Monday.
Asserting that the lathicharge on protesting daily-wage employees of the Jal Shakti department should not have happened, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said he did not hold control over the police.
As the House assembled for the day, opposition members highlighted the protests by the daily-wagers, demanding the release of wages and regularisation of jobs, and criticised the lathicharge on them on Monday.
The BJP members walked out of the House as ruckus erupted, when BJP and National Conference members engaged in a verbal duel on the issue. Intervening, Abdullah said, “You (BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa) have asked a question, please wait for the answer.”
“As far as the police’s treatment of the protesters is concerned, I would like to remind Randhawa Sahab, who is making a noise about this issue, that unfortunately, neither you nor I have control over the police,” he said.
The chief minister said that instead of creating a ruckus inside the House, it would have been better if the opposition raised the matter a few kilometres from there (referring to the lieutenant governor), where the actual control lies. “It would have been more appropriate to go there and ask why they were beaten up,” he said.
Humanitarian issue: Omar
Abdullah said neither were the protesters beaten up on government orders, nor should they have been treated this way.
“Even today, I maintain that these employees are ours. Their issues are genuine. This is not a financial issue but a humanitarian one. They should have been treated with humanity and sensitivity,” he said.
He said that he believes the concern shown by all of them in the House must have reached the ears of the police. “Next time, when these people fight for their rights, batons will not be used against them,” he added.
As soon as Abdullah finished his response, BJP MLA BS Mankotia asked why the daily-wagers were compelled to take to the streets in the first place. This triggered a commotion with treasury and opposition benches holding each other of the plight of the daily-wagers.
MLAs of the treasury benches were up on their feet and raised slogans, “Chor machaye shor.”
NC MLA Nazir Gurezi took potshots at the BJP saying, “The BJP ruled Jammu and Kashmir for 10 years (via the Centre) but did nothing for the daily-wagers and is shedding crocodile tears today. Even the daily-wagers couldn’t muster the courage to ask the BJP for their rights. Today, when there is an elected government in place, they have come out to seek justice.”
BJP MLAs staged a walked out from the House.
Police foil march bid
On Monday, the police foiled a march by hundreds of PHE daily-wagers, who wanted to gherao the civil secretariat. Raising slogans against the Omar Abdullah government for ignoring them in the recent budget, the daily-wagers tried to break the cordon but the police used barricades and concertina wires to prevent them from marching ahead.
The daily-wagers have threatened a three-day strike from March 20. The daily-wagers of the Jal Shakti department get ₹6,750 a month in violation of the minimum wages Act. Hundreds of them have completed 15 to 25 years of service. The backbone of the department, the daily-wagers have been seeking regularisation for the past two decades.
According to an estimate, there are around 60,000 daily-wagers in various departments of Jammu and Kashmir.
