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Regularisation of daily wagers from this year in phased manner: Omar tells J&K assembly
Replying to the discussion on grants of his departments and cut motions in the legislative assembly, the CM said that every MLA highlighted their issue during the ongoing Budget session
Chief minister Omar Abdullah,on Thursday said that his government will start the process of regularising daily wagers, adhoc and other temporary workers in a legally and financially viable manner from new fiscal year in a phased manner, even as it works to fill nearly 30,000 vacant posts during the current year.
Replying to the discussion on grants of his departments and cut motions in the legislative assembly, the CM said that every MLA highlighted their issue during the ongoing Budget session.
“If I wanted to be dishonest to their sentiments then I would have kept quiet for 3 to 3.6 years and then in the last year of my government, could have dragged it for some time and then just before the elections I could have cited model code of conduct to wash off my hands. This is what has happened with them in the past,” said Omar.
He further said the issue of daily wagers and temporary workers was raised by members across party lines and acknowledged that the problem had persisted for decades. “These employees have been struggling for 20, 30 and even 40 years. No government has been able to fully resolve the issue. We had brought the issue to a point but then our government ceased. We had done some exercise and handed it to PDP-BJP government but what they did, they better know,” he said.
The CM informed that a panel under chief secretary had been constituted to examine the matter. “Once the committee submits its report and the groundwork is completed, we will place everything before the people,” he said.
“God willing, we will start their regularisation from this year. But they (BJP) raise questions that why it has to be done in a manner. We can’t do it overnight. An issue which you could resolve in 3.6 years of your (PDP-BJP) government how could we do it in six months,” he said.
The CM said that he doesn’t want to keep daily wagers in the dark anymore. “The number of such workers — whether 70,000, 80,000 or one lakh — would be worked out through a proper timetable and we will start their regularisation from this year,” he said.
Over one lakh daily wagers and casual labourers are currently engaged across government departments in Jammu and Kashmir. He highlighted that the registered workforce includes 69,696 casual labourers, 8,836 daily rated workers, 8,534 seasonal labourers, 5,757 food and civil supplies helpers, 2,153 part-time sweepers and 1,929 persons engaged through the hospital development fund.
50k heroin users among 70k drug addicts in Kashmir
The J&K government on Thursday informed the legislative assembly that around 70,000 persons were involved in substance abuse in Kashmir, out of which nearly 50,000 were heroin users.
Replying to a question by MLA Javid Riyaz, the health and medical education department said J&K, like many other regions of the country, is confronted with the menace of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, posing serious social and public health concerns.
While the reply stated that the government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the issue, it also mentioned that a joint survey in 2022 by the health department and social welfare department in 10 districts of Kashmir found 70,000 persons to be involved in substance use.
PDP MLA Parra’s resolution on hate crimes against minorities allowed
Speaker AR Rather admitted a private member’s resolution moved by Peoples Democratic Party MLA Waheed-Ur-Rehman Parra, on hate crimes against minorities. Parra called for strict enforcement of law to put a check on hate crimes against the minorities.
The resolution by the PDP MLA from Pulwama comes at a time when there were growing incidents of targeted attacks and harassment of Kashmiri students and traders in different parts of the country.
According to an official communication issued by the assembly secretariat, the resolution has been admitted under Rule 179 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the J&K legislative assembly.
The resolution strongly condemned all forms of hate crimes against minorities and called upon the government of India and state governments to take immediate and effective measures to prevent, investigate and prosecute such offences with strict enforcement of the law.
Over 3.61 lakh households still without tap water connections in J&K
The government on Thursday said that about 15.6 lakh households across the Union territory have been provided functional tap water connections under the Centre’s jal jeevan mission but over 3.61 lakh households were yet to be provided tap water connections.
In a written reply to a starred question tabled by CPI(M) MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, jal shakti minister Javed Ahmad Rana, said, out of a total of 19,25,535 households, tap water connections have been extended to over 81 per cent of them.
According to the district-wise data, Srinagar and Ganderbal districts, with 10,407 and 41,551 households, respectively, have achieved complete coverage in tap water connections, Rana said.
In Jammu district, 1,26,170 households out of 1,89,120 have been covered, leaving 62,950 households without tap connections, the highest in the Union Territory, he said.
