SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Saturday said that 55,983 Daily Rated Workers (DRWs) and Work Charged Employees were cleared for regularization under SRO-64 of 1994, asserting that the process was strictly rule-based and dismissing allegations of any regional disparity.
Replying to a starred Assembly question by MLA Arvind Gupta, the government said the Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work Charged Employees (Regularization) Rules, 1994, notified vide SRO-64 dated March 24, 1994, laid down the framework for the regularization exercise. It said that all workers who fulfilled the prescribed eligibility conditions as on March 31, 1994, were considered for regularization, with cases referred by respective administrative departments to an Empowered Committee in the Finance Department for examination and recommendation.
The government stated that each case was subjected to detailed scrutiny to ensure compliance with all conditions under SRO-64 before any recommendation was made. It maintained that the process was transparent and left no scope for arbitrariness. Addressing claims that over 11,000 workers were regularized in Kashmir as against around 855 in Jammu, the government said no region-wise data had been maintained and, therefore, the question of any regional disparity did not arise.
As per the annexure tabled in the Assembly, the highest number of workers cleared for regularization belonged to the Public Health Engineering/Irrigation and Flood Control (PHE/I&FC) sector with 20,482 cases, followed by the Forest Department with 7,679 and the Public Works (R&B) Department with 6,456. Significant numbers were also recorded in Agriculture and Rural Development with 3,786, Power Development with 2,325, Tourism with 1,677, Industries and Commerce with 1,428, Housing and Urban Development with 1,362, and Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution with 1,350. The government further stated that 8,133 workers from state PSUs, autonomous bodies and corporations were also cleared, while smaller figures were reported from departments such as Health and Medical Education, Finance, Revenue and Planning and Development.
The total number of workers cleared under SRO-64 stands at 55,983, and when 2,497 election-related DRWs regularized by the General Administration Department are included, the overall figure rises to 58,475.
On the issue of compliance with High Court directions regarding regularization under SRO-64 of 1994 and SRO-520 of 2017, the government said that in cases where court orders had attained finality, these were being implemented in letter and spirit. However, it added that in matters where legal remedies had been availed by the government, the cases were sub judice. It said it was constrained from furnishing case-specific details in view of legislative rules governing sub judice matters, and that action in such cases would be taken in accordance with the final outcome of the judicial process.
