For quite some time, we have been witnessing employees of Public Health Engineering Department engaged on daily wages basis, raising their demands, most of those being genuine, which besides being on accepted trade union methods of pressing for resolution have turned hostile also. We also know that successive State Governments have been assuring them of looking into their grievances in time bound manner which almost on all the occasions was responded to by the striking employees positively by resuming their “duties” and calling off the stirs. The fact of the matter is that either the promises were not kept or only a fraction of their demands were fulfilled. Like this, not only the concept of negotiations and reaching at mutually accepted decisions were made a mockery of by the concerned authorities including the political leadership but the trust and confidence in making promises “to look into your problems sympathetically” systematically got by and by eroded .
It is a travesty that in a State where offering water is considered as a sacred duty and denying it or refusing it or even offering the same slightly disrespectfully was considered a greatsin , the supply of it was suspended in Jammu city at many places by these striking employees many a time, the latest only a few weeks ago , to pressurise the Government to listen to their grievances.
Looking to the semi-technical view point in respect of personnel issues in respect of the matter, less said the better. What is the precise number of such employees in all the departments including the PHE, some say 66000 while others say nearly a lakh and whatever the figures, who and under which provisions and when where as many people engaged in a casual way? Why should at all people be engaged on daily wages basis when there is need of and vacancies for engaging on permanent basis? Why is the period of “temporary or casual” kept on lingering for years and neither their services terminated nor regularised ? Worst still, even these wages which otherwise are on a lower side, are not paid regularly but after unspecified intervals ranging from 6 months to two years and usually for that also, these unfortunate employees have to agitate? Personnel matters handled in such a casual and reckless way without obeying prevalent rules can only be imagined but in Jammu and Kashmir state can also be “seen”.
Can Governor’s administration decide to resolve this tedious problem made so intricate by the successive State Governments so that a breakthrough could be achieved? Any problem kept unresolved concerning employees working in important departments affects badly the output and the performance as also provides enough scope for corruption and thieving as morality is subservient to hunger since these employees do not get payment of their wages even for months in a row.
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