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STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Police on Thursday used water cannons and batons to disperse hundreds of Jammu and Kashmir government employees who tried to march towards the Civil Secretariat here to protest in support of their demand for regularisation of their services.
The contractual government employees of the Public Health Engineering Department assembled at Pratap Park here to protest in support of their demands, officials said.
As the protesting employees tried to march towards the Civil Secretariat, the seat of Jammu and Kashmir government, police asked them to disperse peacefully.
The protesters, however, refused to pay heed and continued to march ahead, prompting the police to use batons, water cannons and tear smoke shells against them, the officials said. There were no reports of anyone getting injured in the police action. Dozens of employees were detained, they said.
Meanwhile, in Jammu also the casual workers of the Public Health and Engineering (PHE) department held a protest demonstration demanding regularisation of their services.
Led by Tanveer Hussain, president of the PHE Casual Labour Association, over 200 to 300 casual labourers, today protested outside the office of the chief engineer PHE in Jammu demanding the regularisation of their services and payment of pending wages.
Scores of workers removed their shirts and raised anti-government slogans.
Hussain alleged that despite assurances by the successive governments to regularise their service, they have not been given their dues.
“We are the actual work force of the department, we are being made fools by the successive state governments, there are many who have been working with the department for decades now but their services are yet to be regularised,” he said. The protesters also served an ultimatum to the state government till 20th May failing which they would go on indefinite strike in the region.
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