Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 5: As the five-day strike on the call given by the Joint Consultative Committee ended today amidst fresh arrest of more employees and continuous tough postures of the Government, the JCC leaders will decide tomorrow the further course of action.
Around 30 employees were arrested and police had to use force dispersing the protesters who were marching towards the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar today. A heavy contingent of policemen, deployed around the Municipal Park, swung into action when the marching employees under the banner of JCC reached there. After a mild cane-charge, Police detained 30 employees and took them to nearby Police Station.
As the Government continued its tough postures against the striking employees, the arrested JCC leaders Abdul Qayoom Wani and others in Kashmir were not yet released even today while another senior JCC leader Mohd Gafoor Dar was again arrested by Police this evening.
The striking employees of Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Jammu, who were booked under Essential Service Maintenance Ordinance (ESMO) yesterday for suspending work on the call of Joint Consultative Committee, were arrested this morning but bailed out in the evening.
Fifteen out of 18 employees, booked under ESMO, were arrested this morning from the RTO complex, Narwal and then taken to Trikuta Nagar Police Station, informed SHO Trikuta Nagar, Inspector Chanchal Singh. However, all of them were released on bail in the evening, he added.
Pertinent to mention that the District Administration had yesterday booked 18 striking employees of RTO Jammu under ESMO after Deputy Commissioner Jammu Ajit Kumar personally visited several offices to monitor attendance of the staff.
Meanwhile, work in various Government Departments, particularly in Kashmir valley, remained affected on 5th and last day of the strike. The agitating employees held protest demonstrations in front of their respective offices and raised slogans in support of their demands.
The protesting employees were demanding implementation of the agreement signed by JCC leaders and the State Government two years ago.
In Jammu, essential services including Health, Power and Water were kept out of the preview of the strike but work was partially affected in other departments including Directorate of School Education, Irrigation, Horticulture, Agriculture, Rural Development, Command Area, RTO, JDA, PWD, Excise Sale Tax, JKPCC, Animal Husbandry, Sheep Husbandry, Flood Control, JK Sports Council, ITI Complex, Social Welfare, Planning Deptt, Nirman Bhavan, Udyog Bhawan, Polytechnic, etc.
While addressing the striking employees in various office complexes, senior JCC leaders Mohd Gafoor Dar, Ganesh Khajuria, Darshan Singh, Rajinder Kumar, Nazir Ahmed Molvi, Kulwant Singh, Amrik Singh, Vikram Singh, Vijay Choudhary, Shahid Hussain, Satpal Singh, Darshan Kumar, Naresh Sharma, Ravi Singh Bhau, S Surjeet Singh, strongly condemned alleged harassment of the State employees by the Administration. They also demanded immediate release of the arrested leaders unconditionally for creating a cordial atmosphere for dialogue and settlement of the demands.
Later, a joint press conference of J&K Government Employees Joint Consultative Committee and amalgam of various organizations, Federations and Associations was held here this evening under the presidium of S Kulwant Singh, Ganesh Khajuria and S Amrik Singh, who expressed their anguish over the suppressive attitude of the Government on democratically struggling employees and appealed the Chief Minister to personally intervene and restart the dialogue process for resolving the issues of employees.
They also demanded unconditional release of the arrested leader and appealed the employees to remain united in future for giving a befitting reply to the adamant Government.
Top JCC leaders will meet at Srinagar tomorrow for deciding further course of action over the demands, which include enhancement of retirement age, removal of pay disparity, regularization of daily rated workers, etc.
In Kathua, a meeting of JCC district unit was held under the chairmanship of Kuldeep Singh wherein the Government was urged to implement the agreement for avoiding confrontation with the employees.
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