After ruckus in Assembly, Omar announces committee for regularisation of daily wagers

With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators creating a ruckus in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Tuesday, demanding the regularisation of daily wagers and criticising the police action against protesting workers in Srinagar on Monday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced the formation of a committee to “prepare a framework” to address the issue of regularising daily wagers in the Union Territory.

On Tuesday morning, soon after the House convened, BJP legislators rose from their seats and attempted to raise the matter. However, Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather stated that the issue would be taken up after the Question Hour.

As the Question Hour ended, BJP MLAs demanded answers from the government. At this point, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah intervened, addressing the House and urging members to wait for the government’s response, calling the issue a “humanitarian” one.

Regarding the police action, Omar, while addressing the BJP MLAs, stated, “The police are neither under your control nor ours.”

Condemning the incident, Omar added that it would have been more appropriate to raise the issue with Raj Bhavan, which oversees the police.

Despite Omar Abdullah’s remarks, BJP MLAs continued their protests, engaging in a heated exchange with National Conference (NC) legislators. Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma blamed the previous NC government for the issue. However, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary countered, stating that it was the NC government that had employed these daily workers during its tenure and would also ensure their regularisation.

“They couldn’t regularise them in 10 years… We are saying that what has not been done in 10 years, we will accomplish in five years,” Choudhary asserted.

Following the heated debate, BJP members staged a walkout over the issue.

Later, Omar Abdullah announced the formation of a committee headed by the Chief Secretary. “We want to reassure daily-rated workers, casual laborers, and ad-hoc employees that we have not forgotten them. I am announcing the formation of a committee through this House. After my budget speech, I will issue an order today,” he informed the Assembly.

He stated that the committee would be headed by the Chief Secretary and include the Additional Chief Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, as well as the Secretaries of the Planning, General Administration Department (GAD) and Law Department.

The Chief Minister further mentioned that the committee would be given six months to “prepare a framework.”

“First, they will determine the exact number of workers through GAD. Then, considering the legal and financial aspects, they will prepare a roadmap on how to proceed, so that in the next Budget session, I can stand before you and present a concrete plan,” he explained.

He added that the NC government had previously worked towards the regularisation of these workers but had been unable to complete the process.

According to official estimates, there are over 60,000 daily wagers in the UT. In its election manifesto, the NC had promised to formulate a policy for the regularisation of various employees, including daily wagers and casual labourers, in a “time-bound manner.”