Daily-rated workers on Tuesday held protests here to seek regularization of their services.
“We demand regularization of our services. Most of us have been working on meager wages in different departments for the past 20 years,” said Abrar Ahmad, a protestor here.
The daily wagers have opposed referring of Class-IV posts to recruitment agency, saying they have the “first right” to be regularized against these vacant posts.
Chairman J&K Casual Daily Forum Sajad Parray said the forum earlier tried to make reconciliation with government over the issues, but they were forced to take to the streets as the authorities showed no seriousness in addressing their demands.
“Our voices have remained unheard for decades now. It is high time for authorities to deliver justice to more than 60,000 daily-rated works and their families,” he said.
He said the government announcement to give weightage of additional five marks to them during recruitment of Class-IV posts was a “cruel joke” with them.
“The plight of daily-rated workers has been ignored and there is no word for fast tracking regularization of our services,” he said.
He said referring Class-IV vacant posts to recruitment agency “amounts to snatching our livelihood.”
Recently, the government accorded sanction to constitution of a committee to identify vacancies to be filled on immediate basis with priority to Class-IV vacancies.
Parray said most of the daily wagers have crossed upper age limit for government jobs. He urged the government to regularize the services of daily-rated workers engaged since 1994.
Protestors across Kashmir appealed the government to meet their demands on humanitarian grounds.