Srinagar, Sept 11: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Friday said the demand of daily-wage workers for regularisation was genuine, while urging them not to allow political interests to influence their agitation. He said the government is actively considering the regularisation of daily-wagers in a phased manner, and a decision is expected soon.
Reacting to the proposed “Kamchhod” strike by daily wagers, Choudhary acknowledged their concerns and said the government was considering the matter seriously.
“The demand is genuine. But the government should also have a little patience from its side,” he said.
The Deputy CM appealed to the workers to keep their agitation free from political influence, saying some people were trying to use the issue for political purposes.
“Some people are doing politics in that. I will appeal to those daily wagers that some of your people and some of the people outside are doing politics with them. You don’t get involved in politics,” he said.
Choudhary said the regularisation issue should not be restricted to daily wagers working in the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department, but should cover workers engaged across various government departments. He said the National Conference had made a commitment on regularisation in its election manifesto and maintained that the Omar Abdullah-led government was committed to fulfilling it.
“This promise is from the National Conference. This promise is in the manifesto of the National Conference. This promise is of Omar Abdullah’s government,” he said.
Referring to the committee examining the issue, the Deputy CM said the government was deliberating on the matter and expressed hope that a decision would be taken soon.
“The government is thinking about this. You will get the result very soon,” he said, while appealing to the workers to avoid strikes.
“Your demand is justified, and Omar Abdullah will regulate them in his tenure,” Choudhary said.
On Vande Mataram, the Deputy Chief Minister described it as a song associated with the freedom struggle and martyrs, saying it had been sung by people from different communities during the independence movement.
“This song is the song of our martyrs. The biggest song of freedom; this was the song when people were walking with their heads tied for the freedom of India,” he said. Choudhary reiterated the demand for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, saying people had the right to raise such demands within the constitutional framework.
