NYC volunteers give 10-day ultimatum to government

Our Correspondent

Srinagar, October 5

The protesting National Youth Corps (NYC) volunteers on Monday gave a 10-day ultimatum to the government to fulfill their demands.

The volunteers, who are on hunger strike for the last 35 days, threatened self-immolation if their demands were not met within the stipulated time frame.

State NYC president Asif Ali Bhat said if the government failed to fulfill their demands within 10 days he would set himself ablaze outside the house of Education Minister Naeem Akhter.

“We are protesting peacefully without harming anyone. But the government is not listening to us. We have now given 10 days to government to fulfill our demands. If they fail, I will burn myself outside the house of Education Minister,” Asif threatened.

The protesters are demanding implementation of a Cabinet order approved by the previous government, which promised of engaging NYC volunteers in J&K as contingent workers in schools.

Asif said the health of many volunteers was deteriorating and five of them had been hospitalised in critical condition in the last 10 days.

“We don’t care about our health as we have decided to reach a conclusion. We have only received assurances, the government is just doing the lip service. This is our last step to press for our demands. Either they will have to fill our demands or take out our funeral from here,” Asif said.

The volunteers had earlier celebrated Eid-ul-Azha at the protest camp at Lal Chowk where their parents were also present.

The NYC volunteers were recruited in 2010 under the National Service Volunteer scheme. Under the scheme, they were eligible to serve up to two years, but later the state government utilised them for other jobs on the same honorarium of Rs 2,500 per month.