Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 8: As a part of nation wide strike, the workers of 10 Central Trade Unions, independent Federations and Associations including thousands of employees from Insurance & banking sectors, power, steel, petroleum, railways etc observed one day strike and held protest demonstrations at Divisional and District level offices across the region.
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In Jammu, massive protest demonstration under the leadership of State president of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Mohd Yousuf Tarigami (Ex-MLA) was held at Press Club, near main Tawi bridge here today. Thousands of workers from organized and unorganized sectors joined protest demonstration and rally. A large number of women activists were also part of protest. Carrying flags and banners, they were shouting slogans in support of their demands.
While addressing mammoth gathering, Tarigami said that NDA Government has completed 6 months of its second term in office and the country and its people are facing economic slow down, continuing job- losses, sky rocketing unemployment, deepening impoverishment, faster decline in average level of earnings, reckless privatization , destruction of indigenous manufacturing capabilities and abnormal rise of economic inequality in the society .
Tarigami said that closure and shut down of automobile industries and huge job losses including in the IT sector is adding fuel to the fire, price rise of essential commodities including public transport, electricity, medicines etc is mounting miseries on daily lives of the people, leading to widening and deepening poverty. He said further, drastic cut on the Government expenditure in social sector and various welfare schemes has made the conditions of the workers, particularly from unorganized sector more precarious. He called upon the working class to launch a consistent struggle against anti-worker and anti -people policies of the Modi Govt.
CITU general secretary, Om Parkash and senior leader Sham Parsad Kesar also spoke on the occasion and projected the issues of the local workers. They said that workers from various departments and Corporations have been denied their wages since long and they are being exploited. They also demanded hike in the minimum wages in J&K UT as per Central norms.
Pawan Gupta, general secretary Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association denounces the Government for aggressive move for privatization of PSUs and Government sector including Postal department, Defence production, Public Sector Banks and Insurance and also Railways, Public Road Transport, Ports, Coal, Power, Steel, Petroleum etc through disinvestment. He alleged that Government was deliberately and vindictively weakening the Air India, BSNL, MTNL, for making way for privatization,
Manjit Singh from BSNL, Shaimber Singh-HMS, Nar Singh SCLU, Suresh Kumar AITUC, Anil Khanna from Post Office, Shiv Kumar -INTUC, Anil Kumar from BEFI, Dalip Kour from GIC, Romesh Chand from NZEA and JL Parihar, state secretary CITU also spoke on the occasion.
Similar protest demonstration was held outside the office of DC Kathua. Besides CITU, members of Kissan Sabha, Bhawan Nirman Mazdor Union also participated in the protest programme.
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