PHE employees’ genuine demands highlighted

Excelsior Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Dec 2: The Government is making decisions to launch big water supply projects but astonishingly maintains complete silence when it comes to providing adequate wages to its work-force, which continue to denied even their meager wages for 18 to 20 months altogether.
This was stated by Som Nath, vice president of PHE Employees Association for Jammu province while addressing an executive meeting of the association at Udhampur today. He urged the Chief Minister to release the wages of the workers at a time when Central Government is providing enough of funds to the State.
Various other genuine demands were also raised in the meeting and authorities at the helm urged to redress the same at an earliest. The demands pertained to over-coming shortage of staff to man new water schemes; Convening DPC meeting, which does not involve any financial burden on exchequer; Change is designation as per nature of job being performed by workers; Benefit of SRO 64; Release of DA; and enhancement of wages in commensurate with the rising prices of essential commodities.
He meeting also demanded putting a halt to fresh recruitment in PHE Department till all the workers were regularized.
The charter of demands (pertaining to local demands) were submitted to Executive Engineers of Civil and Mechanical divisions Udhampur for their early consideration.
Others who spoke included Rattan Singh, Vijay Kumar, Suraj Parkash, Krishan Chand, Makhan Chand, Shiv Lal Sharma, Baldev Raj, Munshi Ram Bali, Charan Dass, Janait Ali, Luxman Singh, Parath Singh, Manoj Kumar, Santokh Chand, Shanker Dass etc.