PWD, PMGSY casual workers’ Kaam Choro Hartal enters 4th day

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 18: Casual labourers of PWD (R&B) Department and PMGSY under the banner of PWD (R&B) and PMGSY Department Casual Labourers’ Union, Jammu Province, continued their Kaam Choro Hartal and staged protest demonstration here in front of Lok Nirman Bhawan on the fourth consecutive day today.
Addressing the protesting labourers, Union leaders, Ajay Kumar and Puneet Gandotra lambasted the Government for making false promises to regularize around 1336 casual labourers working in the department. They said many committees and sub-committees were framed by the State Government in this regard but every time the files were seen gathering dust in the secretariat.
They said that the new coalition Government formed only high power committee for the budget, in which there are no provisions for the welfare of casual workers. “The Government till now has taken neither any step to redress our issue nor sanctioned any funds for our regularization, which has forced us to proceed on Kaam Choro Hartal”, they added.
Both the leaders appealed all the casual labourers of the department to come forward and join the struggle of the Union to press the Government to fulfill their genuine demands, which include regularization of casual labourers and need based workers having completed seven years of service, creation of separate head of wages, clearing pending wages of casual and need based workers, and enhancement of wages of casual labourers and need based workers from Rs 150 to Rs 400 per day.