Casual workers protest, warn of stopping water supply

Srinagar, Sep 11: The Jammu and Kashmir Casual/Daily Wagers Forum (JKCDF) on Friday held a peaceful protest at Sher-i-Kashmir Park here, urging the government to address the long-pending demands of casual and daily-wage workers, particularly regularisation of their services.

The protest was led by J&K Casual/Daily Wagers Forum president Sajad Ahmed Parray, who said the workers had gathered peacefully to draw the government’s attention towards their issues and seek their early resolution.

Parray said the forum wanted to pursue its demands through peaceful and democratic means, but warned the government against forcing workers to take a stronger step. “We want to once again remind the government that this is a peaceful protest. We want to tell the government not to force us to take the call of stopping the water supply,” he said.

The forum president said the workers are employees whose responsibility is to serve the people and appealed to the government to intervene and resolve their issues. “We are employees and our work is to serve the people. We appeal to the government not to force us to give a call for stopping the water supply. The day that happens, not even a single drop of water will flow here,” he said.

Parray said the forum had repeatedly raised the concerns of casual and daily-wage workers and was seeking concrete action from the government on their long-pending demands. He said the workers did not want the general public to suffer because of their grievances and maintained that the forum was continuing to pursue its demands through peaceful protests and democratic means. “We are peacefully saying this because we want the government to listen to our genuine concerns and resolve our issues. We do not want the public to suffer, but the government should also understand the difficulties being faced by the workers,” Parray said.

The forum president further urged the government to take the matter seriously, initiate dialogue with the workers and take concrete steps towards resolving their grievances.