Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 19: PHE workers today called off their proposed 24-hour ‘Kam Chhor Hartal’ after assurance from the Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Taj Mohi-ud-Din.
An official spokes said that representatives of PHE Workers Welfare Association and other allied employees’ bodies during meeting with the minister concerned and the Chief Engineer PHE, Jammu B R Dogra this evening, decided to call off their strike. The workers had resolved to go on ‘Kam Chhor Hartal’ on April 20.
General secretary of the Association, Subash Verma, told the Excelsior that Minister for PHE Taj Mohi-ud-Din agreed to most of the demands of the PHE workers and on the assurance of minister and the Chief Minister, the Association decided to call off their strike. He said that in the meeting which went on for over three hours in the office chamber of the minister this evening, decided that that over 4905 daily rated workers stand cleared as on date, subject to the production of three consecutive vouchers upto ending financial year 2011 without any time frame.
It was also agreed that necessary instructions shall be issued to the concerned Executive Engineers by the Chief Engineers PHE Jammu for examining/ clearance of all such vouchers already sent to them within 15 days. It was also agreed in the meeting that transfer policy shall be modified to the extent that all Class-IV employees shall be transferred in the nearest Sub-Division of the Division, other than the parent one. In the meeting, it was also agreed to expedite the execution of SRO 59 which is already under active consideration of the department. Mr Verma said that from tomorrow onwards all the workers of the department will resume their duties and there will be no strike.
The delegation also extended gratitude to the minister for the intervention and assured all cooperation. Prominent among those who attended meeting included Bakshi Singh president, Subash Verma (gen secy), Ratan Doshi, Ram Lubaya, Vijay Singh and Surinder Kumar.