Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 26: Six daily wagers of Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department were injured after police beat them and took over a dozen others into preventive custody when they tried to take out a protest march in support of their demands, including regularization of daily wagers and casual workers.
Hundreds of employees of the PHE Department assembled near the Central Telegraph Office this afternoon and tried to march towards city center of Lal Chowk.
When the police asked them to disperse, the protesters insisted on taking the march forward.
Police resorted to batons charge and also used water cannons to disperse the protesters. Some agitating employees were dragged by the police to bundle them in their vans, eyewitnesses said. Some of them were severely beaten up by police with gun butts.
The protest was called by Kashmir PHE Joint Employees Association in support of its demand for regularization of daily-wage workers, casual labourers and need-based workers, besides their pending salaries be released and paid regularly.
The thrashing of the workers has evoked sharp condemnations from the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“We strongly condemn the brutal police action on protesting PHE daily wagers,” said PDP chief spokesperson, Naeem Akhtar, adding, it is yet another instance of an insensitive, inefficient Government trying to relate with the people through force.
Naeem said the Government had gone back on all its promises made to everyone of the society.
“But when it is reminded of its unfulfilled commitments like the one with employees, it has no answer except bullets, lathis and prison,” he added.
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