Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para on Monday reiterated party’s stand on regularisation of nearly one lakh daily wagers and described it a “humanitarian issue”.
Talking to reporters outside the legislative assembly complex here, Para said, “Daily wagers, need based and ad-hoc workers are around one lakh, who run our essential services in Jammu and Kashmir. If our officers get paid in lakhs then why can’t these daily wagers be regularised, who run our essential services 24x7.”
Para recalled that during Mehbooba Mufti’s government around one lakh daily wagers were identified and an SRO was issued while bio-metrics of 60,000 were done.
“Either the same SRO be brought back and nearly one lakh daily wagers will get regularised automatically. If every party has promised their regularisation then irrespective of party lines they should be regularised in a phased manner,” he added.
“This is not merely an issue of employment or regularisation, it is a humanitarian concern. These workers have been serving for decades, yet many of them are denied recognition and security,” he said.
Para urged all political parties to rise above differences and initiate a phased process for regularisation.
“After serving for two to three decades, we tell them that they are not our employees. It amounts to betrayal of worst kind. The government handle them with compassion and ensure justice to them,” he said.