Rohtak PGI staff continue dharna outside Karnal Mini-Secretariat

The ongoing dharna by outsource employees of the PGI, Rohtak, entered fourth day on Tuesday as workers continued their sit-in outside the Mini-Secretariat, Karnal. The employees are demanding that they be brought under the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN) portal for job regularisation and security.

These employees were protesting in Rohtak from June 2 and had started their march towards Chandigarh on September 26. After reaching Karnal, they were not allowed to go ahead by the police and district administration. They were stopped in Jat Dharmshala, where the employees protested last Wednesday. Now, they were allowed to stage dharna outside the Mini-Secretariat.

As per the protesting employees, there are 1,271 employees who have been on strike. Their main demand is inclusion under the HKRN system, which they say will provide them job stability and benefits on a par with other government-linked workers.

Rohtak’s Healthcare Contract Employees Association general secretary Mahesh Kumar alleged that they reached Karnal on October 29 evening and were detained at Jat Dharamshala. They were not allowed to proceed toward Chandigarh.

He said the Haryana Government had introduced the HKRN policy in September 2021, under which all contractual workers were to be registered on the HKRN portal and issued job security letters. However, he alleged that no hike had been given to them in their salaries.

The association has also demanded that arrears under the HKRN be paid from 2022 onwards.