STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Lambasting the successive state governments for the failure to regularise the daily rated and casual workers working in PHE besides other government departments for the last 10-20 years, Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and former Minister said that no more exploitation of the labour class by any State Government Department shall be tolerated. He was addressing the Dharna of daily rated workers which was joined by him along with party Ex-MLAs Balwant Singh Mankotia, State President and Yash Paul Kundal State President Young Panthers at Jammu.
Addressing the gathering, Harsh cautioned the State Government to stop testing the patience of the working class who were on the verge of starvation due to anti labour policies of the government. Regretting the non release of wages to the daily rated, casual, CP, consolidated contractual, need based and contingent workers for the last several months, Harsh said that the State Government deserved condemnation not only for deprivation of their wages for months and years but also for prescribing negligible wages for them. He deplored the utterly negligible wages ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 4500 per month having been fixed for various categories of workers in various government departments including PHE, R&B, M&RE, I&FC etc which he said was not only the worst form of exploitation but the most outrageous kind of human rights violations.
Seeking the enhancement of minimum wages to Rs. 300 per day, Harsh further called for regularisation of all daily rated contingent and other need based workers in various government departments who had completed seven years service in consonance with the public announcements made by the BJP and PDP prior to Assembly Elections.
Lampooning the State Government for taking plea of funds constraints, Harsh questioned the BJP-PDP coalition for its rationale behind the proposal to double the discretionary grant of CDF of Legislators and Ministers from the present Rs. 150 lakh to Rs. 300 lakh despite the so called financial crisis.
Balwant Singh Mankotia while demanding the settlement of the issues of the agitating daily rated and casual workers called upon the government to ensure clearance of all pending dues of the workers and other state government employees before making fresh appointments in any of the government departments.
