E-Paper
Eight years on, terminated employees demand re-engagement
Eight years after their dismissal, 144 regular casual workers of the Doordarshan Kendra here are struggling to get their jobs back, in spite of directions from the Jammu and Kashmir high court to consider their re-engagement.
Eight years after their dismissal, 144 regular casual workers of the Doordarshan Kendra here are struggling to get their jobs back, in spite of directions from the Jammu and Kashmir high court to consider their re-engagement.
The employees, disengaged by the Doordarshan Kendra in 2004, citing financial constraints, had staged protests to press for fulfillment of their demands a few days ago.
"Petitioners, after working as casual labourers at DD Kendra, Srinagar, were disengaged in 2004, and the court accords consideration to their re-engagement in accordance with the rules," reads the order by the high court.
The court in its decision had said the petitioners be given preference during employment in their cadre.
The employees, however, alleged that around 130 casual workers were employed by the Kendra since 2004, and none among them was considered.
Demanding their immediate re-engagement, one of the former employees, Aijaz Ahmad Bhat said, "In spite of all hardships, we served the Kendra for years together, and now the officials disown us even though the court has directed them to re-engage us."
"DD utilised our services as per their need, but now we have been left stranded," Niyaz Ahmad Bhat, who has worked as a security guard at the Kendra, said.
The agitators also alleged that the lack of action had compelled former employee Mohd Shafi to commit suicide. "He killed himself after the DD rejected our appeal again recently," Bhat added.
Speaking to HT, however, Shafi's father Ghulam Mohammad said Shafi had died of a heart attack. "My son died of heart attack because he could not bear this news of getting rejected again. He was working hard to meet the needs of the family," Mohammad added.
"Earlier, around 19 terminated members were re-engaged by the Kendra on the court's directions, but the officials are reluctant to consider our cases," alleged Mohammad Maqbool Sheikh, a protester.
DD Kendra superintending engineer AK Jha declined to talk about the issue.
