Casual labourers and need based employees of PW(R&B) Department, Jammu province went on 72-hour strike under the aegis of All Department Casual Labours United Front, Jammu province, demanding immediate regularization of their services. Addressing the protesting employees at PWD office, Bahu Plaza, Satish Sharma, president, PW (R&B) Department, Jammu, said that about 60,000 casual labourers/need based employees were engaged by the Government from time to time during last over 25 years in different departments for smooth functioning of the Government work. He said the workers have all along been representing to the Government for their regularization but in turn the authorities at the helm of affairs continued to cause delay in delivery of justice by constituting committees on committees with no desirable result. “Now the J&K UT Government is likely to recruit about 50,000 employees in different categories including 10,000 in Class IV cadre by direct recruitment but we need based workers serving in the different department for last more than 25 years are yet to be regularized by the Government,” he regretted. Sharma said the then BJP-PDP Government had issued a SRO 520 on 21 December 2017 for the regularization of all casual labourers working in different departments. He said their files were also processed during the meeting held in the Administrative Department thereafter submitted to Finance Department for regularization but after the lapse of more than one year nothing has been done due to which the poor workers are suffering very badly. He appealed the Government to regularize need based workers under SRO-64 in one go and implement Minimum Wages Act before doing fresh recruitment otherwise the workers will left with no option other than going for strong and massive agitation for which whole responsibility shall be of UT Government.
