Gopal Sharma/
Mir Farhat
Srinagar/Jammu, Sept 11: The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) of the State Government employees has announced a five day strike programme including candle light protest inside Civil Secretariat and torch march to Chief Minister’s residence to press for their demands.
JCC, an amalgam of several employee unions, today called for protests on September 17, 18 and 19, and offices’ lock out on September 20 and 21.
“The employees’ leaders across the State will hold protests at all district headquarters on September 17. Non Gazetted Secretariat employees will protest within the secretariat premises who will be led by JCC convener Rouf Ahmad Bhat,” President JCC Abdul Qayoom Wani said in Srinagar.
Wani said the employees’ leaders will take a “torch march” from Municipal Park to Chief Minister’s Gupkar residence on September 18. “While Secretariat employees will protest inside the premises, Mohammad Gafoor Dar will lead a torch march to Divisional Commissioner’s office in Jammu,” he said.
The JCC, which spearheads the ongoing agitation, has been demanding, among other things, extension of retirement age from 58 to 60, regularization of daily wagers, removal of pay anomalies in the clerical cadre, besides budgetary support for public sector undertakings.
The JCC president said on September 19, agitating employees will march toward Governor’s House in Nishat from Municipal Park. “Mohammad Gafoor Dar will lead the employees in Jammu, Rouf Ahamd Bhat in Secretariat, and Syeeda Ladakhi and Mohammad Mujtaba will lead the employees in Leh and Kargil districts respectively,” Wani said.
He added that on these agitating three days, only JCC leaders will protest, but the other employees will carry on their work in the offices and educational institutes.
Wani said the JCC leadership has decided to observe a complete lock out strike on September 20 and 21 and the entire employee workforce will remain off the work.
JCC leaders also threatened of “unique” agitation during the coming Assembly session if the Government fails to implement the agreement reached between the JCC leaders and Government representatives.
Meanwhile, normal work in all Government offices in summer capital, Srinagar, and other towns of the Valley remained suspended following the JCC strike call today for the third consecutive day.
However, essential services, which are exempted from the strike, were operating as usual.
The JCC had called for a three day suspension of their work last week.
In Jammu, the employees under the banner of Joint Consultative Committee held strong protest demonstration at Panama Chowk and also outside the office of Deputy Commissioner on Wazarat Road today. Senior JCC leaders Mohd Gafoor Dar, Kulwant Singh, Amrik Singh, Ganesh Khajuria, Ravinder Singh, Moulvi Munir, Rajinder Kumar and Yash Paul were leading.
Today was the third day of the strike/ protest programme of the JCC and a large number of employees from various Govt Departments and Public Sector Undertakings participated. They raised slogans in support of their demands and also against the Government. They strongly flayed the State Government for not honouring the agreement reached between JCC leadership and Government representatives which included removal of pay anomalies, enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years, regularization of daily rated/ consolidated workers etc.
With the ongoing three day strike from Sept 9 to 11, the work in many Government departments and PSU offices also remained affected. In some of the offices there was little impact of the strike. The emergency units of the hospitals functioned normally and even the OPDs in many hospitals was found functioning. The essential services like water and electricity besides Food Supplies had been exempted from the purview of the strike.
Meanwhile, the senior JCC leader Gafoor Dar while addressing large gathering of the employees at Panama Chowk announced the five-day strike programme of the employees under the banner of JCC from September 17 to 21 in the entire State, starting with protest demonstrations at all the district headquarters and followed by candle march to Chief Minister’s residence, Secretariat Gherao and observance of complete strike on the last two days of the agitational programme. He said if the Government failed to act, the employees may go for indefinite strike.
Reports from various districts of Jammu region said that strike in many offices was of partial and the work in some of the offices functioned normally. The impact of the strike was good in Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur districts.
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