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| Widespread protests in Jammu as Budget Sessions begins | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 22: The commencement of 43-day-long Budget Session today witnessed widespread, but traditional protests across the City as the various organisations including refugees of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), pensioners, ITI diploma holders and Rehbar-e-Taleem accused the ruling alliance of failing to resolve their issues.
Though the protesting organisations had called for taking out rallies towards Civil Secretariat, the administration had made elaborate security arrangements and deployed additional jawans of police and para-military forces to foil their attempt.
Hundreds of Pok refugees under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir PoK Refugee Front- 1947, 1965 and 1971 assembled outside the office of Divisional Commissioner Jammu office at Mubarak Mandi and raised anti-administration slogans.
“The State Government has taken no steps for comprehensive and permanent settlement of Jammu Kashmir Pok displaced persons (camps and non-camps) of 1947, 1965 and 1971 from Mirpur, Bhimber Kotli, Muzaffarabad and Poonch despite several memorandums and meetings with the Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation, Divisional Commissioner and former Chief Minister,” they alleged.
They further alleged that the state government has failed to provide adequate security to displaced persons to protect them from Pakistan invasions. “Indian Government in connivance with the State Government gifted away that part of the State to Pakistan by entering into agreement of Tashkent and Shimla Samjhauta,” they said.
The protestors said that no comprehensive settlement was made that these DPs would be sent back to their previous settlements and now the Line of Control (LoC) has been converted into Line of Actual Control. “No educational employment and political package have been announced for displaced persons,” they said, adding that they should be paid at par with Kashmiri migrants.
The protestors led by front president Yudhvir Singh and general secretary, Rachpal Singh Chib vowed to fight for their legitimate rights guaranteed by the Indian constitution.
Similarly, hundreds of pensioners under the banner of All J&K Pensioners Association gathered in front of Divisional Commissioner Jammu office and shouted anti-government slogans.
The main demands of the pensioners included payment of Sixth Pay Commissioner arrears, removal of anomalies in SRO 94, provision of old age pension, enhancement of medical allowance from Rs 300 to Rs 1000 per month, payment of increased commutation, gratuity and leave salary, settlement of pension cases of retirees and setting of pensioners hostels at Srinagar and Jammu for stay of senior citizens (pensioners).
Shouting slogans against the ruling dispensation, the protesting pensioners alleged that the government has failed to redress their “genuine” issues.
Prominent trade union leaders including Mukand Lal Sharma, Sampat Parkash and Madan Lal Abrol addressed the protestors.
Enraged over the ‘indifferent’ attitude of the ruling National Conference-Congress coalition government towards the ‘genuine’ issues of unemployed ITI electrical diploma holders, hundreds of ITI electricians today staged a noisy protest.
Under the banner of All J&K Unemployed ITI Electrician Association, the protestors shouted slogans against the state government and urged the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to fulfill his promise of providing job to unemployed electricians.
Led by Rakesh Sharma, president of the association, the protestors took out the protest march from Mubarak Mandi, where they have been sitting on ‘dharna’ for the three years.
Addressing the protestors, Sharma said, “We have been protesting for the last three years but no action so far has been taken to concede our genuine demands. The Chief Minister had assured that the National Conference would give a special focus to employment of unemployed youth of the state and make efforts to create new avenues of employment besides filling the existing vacant posts in the different government departments.”
The activists of All J&K Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) Teachers Forum also staged a protest against the ruling dispensation and criticized the state government for delaying their genuine long pending demands which include formation of transfer policy in favour of regularized ReTs, issuing the order for regularization of Education Volunteers (EVs), inclusion of five years’ rendered services for seniority benefits, enhancement in the wages of ReTs upto Rs. 7000, implementation of SRO-43 etc.
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