Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) Wednesday reiterated it would continue to strive for the rights of daily-rated workers engaged in different government departments.
Addressing media persons here, EJAC President Fayaz Shabnum said that ITI trained workers engaged as daily wagers in Public Health Engineering (PHE) department have been on the strike for the past three days. While narrating the plight of these workers, Shabnum said they are well educated and technically trained, having valid ITI certificates.
“They have been working under different disciplines like electricians, plumbers, and fitters in the PHE with commitment and without any break for the past 14 years,” he said.
He said these workers were paid “peanuts”. He said these daily-rated workers had been promised regularization of their service after completion of seven years in service.
“Now they have crossed upper age limit and spent years in these departments, but the government is yet to regularize their services,” he said.
The EJAC President appealed to the Lieutenant Governor to personally look into the matter on humanitarian basis and direct concerned officials to take necessary measures for regularization of the services of the daily-rated workers.
He said authorities in J&K have also failed to implement Minimum Wages Act which would have benefitted thousands of families in the Union Territory.
The EJAC also sought regularization of the services of casual labourers, daily wagers and all types of temporary workers engaged in different government departments.
“EJAC will continue to stand with daily-rated workers and will strive for their regularization,” Shabnum said. He said the previous governments have time and again made agreements with the EJAC leadership regarding the regularization of these workers. “But till date nothing has been done on the ground,” he said.
He said EJAC would announce an agitation programme in case authorities “fail to wake up from the slumber and fulfill genuine demands of daily-rated workers.”