Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 6: Striking Patwaris under the banner of All J&K Patwar Association (AJKPA) today staged a protest at the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office to press for the resolution of their long pending demands.
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Scores of Patwaris from districts Srinagar and Ganderbal on the occasion were heard raising slogans in favour of their demands while urging the higher-ups to address their issues which, they said, have gone unheard for long.
“The Government promised last year that the fraternity’s claims were genuine and would be addressed in a month, but more than a year later, the charter of demands has still not been fulfilled,” AJKPA said.
It should be mentioned that all Patwaris in J&K have declared an indefinite strike that started on March 1 and was made public after the Government failed to address their concerns despite formal assurances from higher officials.
The demonstrators claimed that the AJKPA has repeatedly asked the administration to address their legitimate grievances, including the grade pay of graduate patwaris, which, according to the then advertisement notification of 2013, stood at Rs 2800 grade but has been reduced to grade pay of 2400.
They said that they are also demanding restoration of that order as it is not a case of pay anomaly. “The NT quota should be raised to equal the UT of Ladakh, which was constituted on the same day as the UT of J&K; As long as the demands weren’t met, the strike would continue.”
Secretary AJKPA District Srinagar said that as per the direction of Apex body AJKPA, all basic members of twin districts assembled for a protest and continued their pen-down strike under the leadership of Vice president Apex Ghulam Nabi Bhat.
“Various speakers from both districts highlighted issues related to long pending genuine demands and also stressed upon the leadership to continue the struggle till the genuine demands are fulfilled by the government,” AJKPA said.
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