Srinagar, Mar 10: Apni Party on Monday criticised the alleged police action against the protesting casual and daily wage workers from various government departments, including the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department, who wanted to stage a protest at Lal Chowk to demand the long-pending regularisation of their services and a salary hike.
A similar protest by the daily wagers from the PHE department was foiled in Jammu when the protesters were marching toward the Civil Secretariat.
In a statement issued here, the party’s Chief Spokesperson, Muntazir Mohiuddin, while condemning the alleged police action against the protesting casual and daily wage workers at both places—Srinagar and Jammu—termed their protest “absolutely justified” and urged the government to fulfil its poll promise of addressing the genuine demands of these poor workers.
“The ruling party is committed to addressing the long-pending issues of casual and daily wage workers, as it was an electoral pledge during its poll campaign. How can it shy away or take a U-turn from its commitment to the people who voted for it? The protest by these workers is absolutely justified and is their democratic right. They deserve a fair hearing and redressal of their problems, not ruthless beatings,” Muntazir said.
He said the workers are disappointed and feel pained as they saw no mention of their issue in the recently passed budget. Clearly, the government has no intention of addressing their issue, nor does the ruling party seem bothered about its own promise that it made to the people, he said.
The Apni Party spokesperson demanded that the government take concrete measures to address critical issues, including the demand for the regularisation of the jobs of these workers at the earliest.
