Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 19: In response to escalating tensions between the ruling National Conference and the opposition BJP over the plight of temporary employees in various government departments, the Jammu and Kashmir government took decisive action on Wednesday by establishing a formal committee to tackle the issue of regularizing daily wagers.
According to an official order from the General Administration Department, the six-member panel will be chaired by Chief Secretary Atal Dullo. The committee comprises senior officials, including the Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, the Administrative Secretary of the Finance Department, the Administrative Secretary of the General Administration Department, the Administrative Secretary of the Planning, Development, and Monitoring Department, and the Administrative Secretary of the Department of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs.
The order states, “Sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of a committee to examine the issues related to the regularization of casual, seasonal labourers, and other workers, etc., in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.” The panel has been tasked with reviewing humanitarian, legal, and financial aspects of the regularization process and proposing a comprehensive solution.
The General Administration Department will provide support to the committee, which is expected to submit its report within six months. The move comes amid ongoing debates and conflicting claims between the ruling and opposition parties regarding t The move comes amid ongoing debates and conflicting claims between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the hardships faced by temporary workers across the region.
Important to mention here that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on March 11 announced the formation of a committee to develop a roadmap for the regularisation of daily wagers.
According to an old estimate of the previous PDP-BJP coalition government that fell apart in June 2018, Jammu and Kashmir had 61,000 such workers engaged by various government departments.
Apart from the chief secretary, the panel has an additional chief secretary in the chief minister’s office and secretaries of the general administration, planning and law departments, respectively.
The committee has been given six-month time to come up with a framework suggesting long-term solutions.
“After my speech today, I am announcing a committee, and an order will be issued after a day’s business. The committee will be headed by chief secretary and it will have additional chief secretary in the CM’s office and secretaries of the planning, GAD and law departments because the issue has a legal aspect to it,” Omar said during his reply following general discussion on budget for the 2025-26 fiscal in the Legislative Assembly on March 11.
“The panel will be given six months to prepare a framework. First, we have to get their numbers via the general administration department and then explore a roadmap for their regularisation, so that before the next budget we can tell the House that this is what we are doing for them,” said the CM.
He recalled how previous governments had “buried the issue under the carpet”. |
