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PHE daily wagers protest in Jammu, want regularisation report tabled in House
Second time in five days that PHE Employees United Front of Jammu has demonstrated, seeking tabling of committee report in ongoing assembly session.
Daily wagers of the public health engineering (PHE) department on Monday held a protest to demand the tabling of the report of the committee set up by the Jammu and Kashmir government on the regularisation of their services.
This is the second time in five days that the PHE Employees United Front of Jammu held a demonstration on the issue. Members had earlier protested on the first day of the assembly session on October 23.
Amid slogans of “We want justice”, “Report ko assembly mein table karo” and “Daily wagers ko regularise karo”, hundreds of workers sat on a dharna at the Jal Shakti office in Jammu. “We want the government to fulfil our long-pending demand and table the report of the committee in the assembly during the ongoing session,” PHE Employees United Front (Jammu Province) leader Ravi Hans told reporters.
He said that opposition members should also raise the issue and mount pressure on the government to table the report in the House, as the term of the committee had ended in September. “We do not want to come on the roads and cause inconvenience to the public. But if the government forces us, we will have no option,” he said.
Hans said that the Omar Abdullah government had set up a committee to prepare a report on the regularisation of daily wagers during the last assembly session. “When we were on the roads during the last session, the committee was announced by the chief minister, and six months was given to it to table the report. It was to be submitted by September 19, but till now, we don’t know its fate,” he said.
On March 19, the Jammu and Kashmir government had constituted a six-member committee to examine issues related to the regularisation of daily wage workers in the Union Territory. Abdullah had announced that a roadmap would be prepared for presentation in the next budget session. The committee, headed by the chief secretary, was tasked with examining 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.
MLAs must unite for cause: Mehbooba
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said it is crucial for all MLAs, including those of the ruling NC, to unite to address the issue of regularising daily wage workers in Jammu and Kashmir. “As the assembly reconvenes, one of the most pressing issues that requires immediate attention is the plight of nearly one lakh daily wagers,” Mufti posted on X.
The former chief minister said the workers, often from the most marginalised sections of society, have been the backbone of many government departments, ensuring their smooth functioning.
