Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 27: Police today foiled a bid by the casual workers of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department to gherao the Civil Secretariat by using coloured water cannons and detained several workers.
The protesters under the banner of PHE Joint Employees Association (PHEJEA) gathered outside the Exhibition Ground, which is close to the Srinagar Civil Secretariat, to raise their concerns. Talking to the media before the gherao bid, PHEJEA president Sajad Ahmad Parrey said they would intensify protests if their issues continued to remain unresolved.
Parrey said they would sit on a four day long hunger strike from June 5 if their issues were not addressed till then. He said several casual employees had been working in the PHE Department for more than 10 years now and were still waiting for regularisation of services.
The PHEJEA demands include regularisation of services and release of pending salaries. The protestors were also demanding that the salaries of the casual employees be released on a monthly basis.
After protesting outside the Exhibition Ground, the PHEJEA members tried to take out a procession towards the Civil Secretariat. However, the police used coloured water cannons to disperse the protestors.
Several protestors were detained. The police action temporarily affected the flow of traffic at the busy Exhibition Road-Jehangir Chowk crossing.
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