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| Assembly erupts over daily wagers' regularization | | BUDGET SESSION 2025 | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 11: The issue of regularizing daily wagers sparked heated debates in the Legislative Assembly, as the ruling National Conference (NC) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed each other for the plight of thousands of workers awaiting job security.
Amid the uproar, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced the formation of a committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to devise a roadmap for the regularization of daily-rated wagers.
The announcement followed a tense debate, a day after police resorted to lathicharge on protesting daily wagers attempting to march toward the Civil Secretariat.
The opposition BJP, raising concerns over the delay in regularization, strongly condemned the police action against protesting workers, particularly those from the Jal Shakti department. However, the ruling NC countered the BJP’s stance, accusing the party of hypocrisy and failing to address the issue during its tenure.
Chanting slogans of "Chor Machaye Shor," NC members criticized the BJP for its inaction when in power, arguing that the party had ignored the plight of daily wagers but was now exploiting the issue for political gains. BJP legislators, on the other hand, demanded immediate regularization of these workers while continuing their criticism of the government.
Intervening in the discussion, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed regret over the use of force against peaceful protesters. “The police should not have used force on them on Monday when they were fighting for their rights,” he said, highlighting that the issue was not just financial but a humanitarian one.
In a sharp rebuttal to BJP’s accusations, the Chief Minister pointed out that police matters were not entirely under the government’s control. “Instead of shouting here, you should take this up with Raj Bhawan,” he told BJP legislators.
The regularization of daily wagers has been a longstanding issue in Jammu and Kashmir, unresolved for the past 15 years. Notably, in October 2014, then PHE, Flood Control, and Irrigation Minister Sham Lal Sharma resigned from the council of ministers, citing alleged sabotage of efforts to regularize daily wagers. He had accused then Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather of intentionally delaying the process, despite heading the Cabinet Sub-Committee on the matter. |
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