Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 27: Strongly condemning the brutal Police lathi-charge upon the protesting NHM workers particularly the female employees seeking regularization of services besides a job policy, NPP chairman Harsh Dev Singh today sought the personal intervention of the Chief Minister into the episode with exemplary punishment to officers responsible for ordering the said unwarranted police action.
Talking to media persons here today, Harsh Dev said that with the H&ME sector in the State already on crutches, the strike of the Health Deptt employees had resulted in collapse of the health infrastructure particularly in rural areas with a reckless and highly incompetent and impudent Minister making the situation worse confounded. Rather than visiting the site of protest to satisfy the employees which was the prime responsibility of the Minister concerned, a lathi-charge was ordered against the protesters resulting in aggravation of tensions.
Seeking the resignation of Health Minister, Harsh Dev Singh said that general public and employees, could not be made to suffer and to pay the price for the incompetence of Ministers.
Urging upon the Chief Minister to hold talks with the protesting sections of contractual employees including NHM, Contractual Lecturers, MG-NREGA employees besides Anganwari and ASHA workers, Singh sought the early announcement of a job policy and their time bound regularization so that they were assured of sustainable livelihood. He said that dis-regard of the genuine demands of the aforesaid categories of employees on the plea that they were engaged under Central sponsored schemes was highly unfair and unjustified.
He reminded the Govt of the historic decision taken by him as Education Minister in 2003 for regularization of SSA teachers despite the fact that SSA was also a Central sponsored scheme. He recalled that even at that point of time the bureaucracy had created hurdles, hindrances in the regularization process and opposed the move on the plea that employees under Central sponsored scheme can’t be regularized by the State.
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