Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 15: An emergency meeting of the Jammu and Kashmir Pensioners and Senior Citizens United Front, along with representatives of various employees’ and workers’ organizations, today highlighted a series of long-pending demands and expressed concern over what they described as the Government’s “indifferent attitude” towards serving and retired employees.
The meeting was chaired by State president Babu Hussain Malik and attended by senior trade union leader Rafiq Ahmed Khanyari, chief patron Girdhari Lal Chanda, general secretary Yash Paul Sharma, vice president Ramesh Kumar Sharma and several other prominent members and representatives of different categories of employees and daily wagers.
Discussing the prevailing issues in detail, the participants said that employees and pensioners were facing severe financial and administrative hardships due to delay in release of their legitimate dues and non-implementation of various welfare measures. They alleged that despite repeatedly raising these issues through print and electronic media, no concrete steps had been taken.
The meeting strongly demanded regularization of all categories of daily wagers, ad-hoc, contractual and consolidated employees, including seasonal teachers, Rehbar-e-Khel, Rehbar-e-Janglat, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, National Health Mission staff, home guards and vocational trainees. It also sought immediate re-engagement of ousted casual labourers in different departments.
Early release of pending GP Fund, gratuity, leave salary, commutation and other retirement benefits was another major demand. The meeting called for enhancement of medical allowance for pensioners and employees at par with other Union Territories and implementation of the Old Pension Scheme.
Among other issues raised were disposal of pending SRO-43 cases, removal of clerical cadre pay anomalies, release of 18 months’ DA frozen during the Covid period, implementation of the 8th Pay Commission benefits, restoration of withheld annual increments under SRO-202 and grant of additional increments linked to the Secretariat Assistant Course.
The participants also demanded enhancement of old-age pension to Rs 5,000 per month and time-bound implementation of CAT and High Court judgments. They warned that failure to address these demands would force employees and pensioners to intensify their struggle in the coming days.
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