J&K daily wagers announce province-wide protest, question salary hikes for MLAs
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "J&K daily wagers announce province-wide protest, question salary hikes for MLAs")
J&K daily wagers stage province-wide protest Photograph: (Credit: WION)
J&K daily wagers have announced a province-wide protest, slamming the government over proposed MLA salary hikes while their long-pending regularisation and pay issues remain unresolved.
The Jammu and Kashmir Casual Daily Wagers Forum has announced a province-wide protest in Kashmir on September 22 if the government fails to address their demands, including the implementation of a committee report on their grievances. Speaking during the second phase of the forum’s protest, Sajjad Ahmed Parrey, President of the J&K Casual/Daily Wagers Forum said the government had promised in the Assembly to constitute a committee to examine the worker issues and submit its report within six months, but 18 months had passed without the report being presented.
The worker demanded that the committee’s report be placed before the Assembly and implemented after approval. The workers also questioned what they described as a disparity between the treatment of elected representatives and that of low-paid daily wagers.
“If MLAs can raise their salaries from ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh, why can’t they think about poor people who are surviving on meagre salaries?” Sajjad Ahmed Parrey, President of the J&K Casual/Daily Wagers Forum , questioning how employees earning around ₹2500–₹9000 could cope with medical expenses, medicines, household costs and rising inflation.
Sajjad Ahmed Parrey, President of the J&K Casual/Daily Wagers Forum said that if elected representatives could demand higher salaries and benefits such as the Old Pension Scheme, daily wagers and casual workers should also be considered for similar benefits.
“Do they not have stomachs to feed? Are they not human beings?” Sajjad Parrey asked, arguing that workers were also citizens with families and dependents.
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The forum also accused the government of failing to honour commitments made to workers and said they had been left with no option but to take to the streets. Sajjad Ahmed Parrey, President of the J&K Casual/Daily Wagers Forum said daily wagers had supported the government through their votes but were now being “humiliated” and “forced” into protests.
“If the government does not take a decision regarding our future in the upcoming Assembly session, does not address our expenses and discrepancies, and does not present the committee’s report, we have given a call for a strike and protest across Kashmir province on September 22,” Sajjad Ahmed Parrey, President of the J&K Casual/Daily Wagers Forum said.
The forum claimed that more than 50,000 daily wagers are currently working in various government departments and alleged that the functioning of several departments depends heavily on their services.
He further claimed that around 90 percent of contractual employees in the departments had already retired, leaving daily wagers to shoulder much of the workload.
The forum warned the government against repeating what the worker described as the “mistake” of 2014, saying that any consequences arising from further escalation of the agitation would be the government’s responsibility.
“We will speak out and we will rise against this injustice,” the worker said, adding that the workers’ struggle and preparations would continue until their demands were resolved.
