Daily wagers, contract staff hold protest in Srinagar, seek regularisation of services

A large number of daily wagers and contractual employees, along with their children, staged a protest here on Thursday to demand regularisation of their services in the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The protests, organised by the Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC), were held at Sher-e-Kashmir Municipal Park here, where the demonstrators staged a sit-in and raised slogans such as ‘we want justice’ and ‘sadda haq ithay rakh’ (give us our rights).

Addressing the gathering, the EJAC leaders said the Omar Abdullah government should not continue in office if it does not fulfil the promises made to the employees. They said the casual labourers and daily wagers were the backbone of the departments that provide basic facilities to people, such as electricity and drinking water.

There are more than 60,000 employees who have been working as daily wagers in Jammu and Kashmir for many years.