Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 28: Hundreds of Home Guards today staged a protest near Press Club Jammu in support of their demands which include regularization of their services.
The protesters, both men and women, were carrying placards and chanted slogans during an over hour protest during which they invited the attention of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and requested him to address their long pending demands.
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“A Home Guard is paid Rs 2,700 per month which is in violation of the 2017 Supreme Court ruling that the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ has to be extended to those engaged in ad hoc or contractual work,” All J&K Home Guards Welfare Association president Kamla Sharma told reporters.
She said they have been rendering their services to the Government for the last two decades and have highlighted their various demands, but no action was taken, forcing them to again take to roads. “If our demands are not met, we will further intensify our protest,” Sharma said.
She said the Home Guards are facing “injustice” as they are providing their services for a meager amount which has pushed them into poverty with the future of their children at stake. “The Government should immediately ‘equal pay for equal work’ principle in the Union Territory and also chalk out a strategy to ensure early regularization of Home Guards,” she added said.
The protesting Home Guards were also demanding fixation of their salaries in accordance with the Supreme Court order and other service benefits provided to their counterparts in other states and UTs like Delhi.
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