Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, Oct 25: After being denied their wages for the last over 55 months, the PHE workers from Udhampur, Ramnagar, Majalta, Pancheri and Chenani area have decided to suspend water supply from November 4 to 12.
A large number of PHE workers/ daily wagers from Udhampur area assembled at the PHE Complex Udhampur today under the banner of Water Works/ PHE Employees Association led by Som Nath (president) and held strong protest demonstration. They were demanding their pending wages of 55 months. They condemned the attitude of the previous BJP-PDP Government and the State Administration.
While addressing the large meeting of workers, Som Nath alleged that despite representations to senior officers, bureaucrats and the Advisors besides ministers in the previous Government, the authorities failed to clear the wages of the workers, who are performing their duties at their respective water stations. They are facing worst kind of exploitation at the hands of the Government. No Human Rights body has even bothered to listen to the plight of these ‘bonded labourers’ in the J&K PHE Department. Even on Diwali festival they have not been paid their wages by Govt which is most unfortunate, he added.
These helpless workers are unable to feed their families and continue the studies of their children. Some children have dropped out as their parents failed to pay school fees. He said that Governor and the concerned Advisor must take cognizance of the matter and clear the wages of the workers in phased manner, if not in one go. He said they had met DC Udhampur also and submitted the list of workers but no output has been observed.
Som Nath further demanded regularization of CP/ ITI and Land case workers of PHE, remove shortage of staff at water stations and other PHE offices, clear pending SRO-43 cases, conduct DPC at Divisional and Provincial level, change the designation of the employees as per their nature of work and also release wages of imprest workers engaged about 15 years ago.
He appealed the PHE United front Jammu to take drastic action against the policies of the Govt and support the proposed ‘Kaam Chhor Hartal’ of the workers.
Senior trade union leaders – Vijay Sharma, Suraj Parkash, Dinesh Kesar, Jagdish Mangotra, Makhan Chand, Baldev Raj, Omkar Singh, Shamsher Singh, Rajinder Sharma, Krishan Chand and others also spoke in the meeting.
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