Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 11: The daily rated, ITI trained and CP workers of PHE Department today held protest demonstration and dharna along with their families including little children in the office complex of Chief Engineer at B C Road here today.
The temporary workers of PHE who are on agitation for the last 33 consecutive days were today joined by their families at the dharna site and staged protest demonstration against Mufti led Coalition Government. They were demanding release of their pending wages and regularization.
Under the banner of All J&K PHE, ITI Trained & CP Workers Association these workers have launched indefinite strike/ dharna. The workers were raising loud slogans against the Chief Engineer concerned, Minister for PHE Sukhnandan Choudhary, Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu and Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed. They also raised slogans against BJP Ministers from Jammu region for their failure to project their cause.
The agitating workers are demanding to frame proper policy for their regularization and release of their pending wages. They alleged that Government has turned a deaf ear towards to their plight. Moreover, they were not paid their wages on the recent festivals of Eid, Raksha Bandhan and Janamashtami. Their families remained starved during these festivals.
The workers were demanding release of their wages in time and regularly and enhancement in the rate of their daily wages. They demanded that disparity in the wages of the Valley based and Jammu region workers be removed and unique wage system be adopted in all the three regions of the State.
Provincial president of the Association, Tanveer Hussain alleged that despite assurance given by Minister for PHE and senior officers, their demands have not been met with. Many of them have been working for the last 15-20 years but they are still waiting for their regularization.
Tanveer further alleged great discrimination was meted out to the workers of Jammu region. He said the money which was released for the ITI trained workers vide Govt order No. FD-VIII-23/1/2009 dated 30-6-2015, was to the tune of Rs 1400.36 crore whereas, Jammu’s share was kept just Rs 287.79 crore while lion’s share of Rs 1116.57 crore was kept for the workers of Kashmir. This is glaring example of discrimination by the Government with the workers of Jammu.
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