Worried about the future of more than 31,000 permanent and daily wager employees in Power Development Department (PDD), Non-Gazetted Electric Employees Union Friday organised a protest demonstration against handing over the distribution to private companies.
Led by the state general secretary, J&K Central Non-Gazetted Electric Employees Union, Parshotam Sharma the protestors said they fear foir the future of the employees.
“We are apprehensive about the the future of the employees after the Union minister’s announcement that distribution in all Union territories will be handed over to private companies,” he said.
Sharma said Kashmir-based employees assembled at Bemina PPD Complex, led by Omar Bhat, and demonstrated against the move of privatization.
“Of 31,000 non-gazetted employees in PDD, we have daily wagers, and need based workers,” he said, adding there was no word from the government about their regularization.
He said the government should come out with white papers on the future of the employees in the department.
“We have apprehensions that the private companies might engage their own employees,” he said.
He said around 7,000 daily wagers were working in Kashmir and 5,000 in Jammu. “Many have completed 10 to 20 years of service and they have still not been regularized. We have many other issues pending,” he said.
He said the implementation of new labour laws was against thousands of the PDD workers. “Privatization will be anti-employees and anti-customers,” he said.