SRINAGAR: Over 1 lakh casual and other workers have been registered across Jammu and Kashmir through the Government’s Aadhaar-based biometric identification and skill-profiling exercise, with the highest number recorded under the Public Health Engineering/ Irrigation and Flood Control department.
The figures were provided by the Jammu and Kashmir Government in reply to an unstarred question by MLA Waheed Ur Rehman Para during the ongoing sixth session of the Legislative Assembly.
According to the department-wise statement annexed to the reply, particulars of 100,501 workers have been registered across different categories. These include 69,696 casual labourers, 8,534 seasonal labourers, 8,836 daily-rated workers/work-charged employees, 3,092 part-time workers, 156 CIC operators, 5,757 NYCs, hamals and drivers of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, 1,929 persons engaged on Hospital Development Fund, 2,153 part-time sweepers and 348 prism-men/settlement assistants of the Revenue Department.
The PHE/I&FC department accounts for the largest share, with 38,585 workers registered. The Power Development Department, including PDC, has 13,616, while the Education Department has 12,646.
Other departments with substantial numbers include the Forest Department with 8,317 workers, Public Works (Roads and Buildings) with 6,801, Health and Medical Education with 4,868 and Agriculture with 4,776.
The district-wise statement shows Jammu with the highest number of registered casual and other workers at 13,425, followed by Srinagar with 11,825 and Anantnag with 8,823.
Baramulla has 7,724 registered workers, while Budgam has 5,772, Pulwama 5,651, Kupwara 5,547 and Rajouri 5,191. Other figures include Ganderbal 4,056, Doda 3,856, Kulgam 3,321, Reasi 3,210, Bandipora 2,771, Kishtwar 2,754, Udhampur 2,518 and Poonch 2,455.
The statement also covers Kargil and Leh, with 1,791 and 1,021 workers respectively, besides 222 persons working in the Civil Secretariat/New Delhi.
On regularisation, the Government said the Jammu and Kashmir Casual and Other Workers—Regular Engagement Rules, 2017, notified through SRO-520 dated October 21, 2017, provided for the regular engagement of casual and other workers in different Government departments in accordance with the prescribed procedure.
However, the policy envisaged under SRO-520 was subsequently reviewed in light of legal pronouncements on the issue. As a result, the Government said no regularisation of casual and other workers under SRO-520 was carried out during the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26.
The Government was also asked whether it intended to continue, revive or revise the existing regularisation policy and to specify the proposed coverage and timeline for a decision.
In its response, the Government said a committee had been constituted through Government Order No. 384-JK(GAD) of 2025 dated March 19, 2025, to examine issues relating to the regularisation of different categories of workers.
The committee has been tasked with examining the matter from humanitarian, legal and financial perspectives and suggesting a comprehensive way forward.
The Government said the exercise involves consideration of multiple categories of workers, service rules, legal implications and financial consequences. The committee is examining the matter in detail in consultation with the concerned departments.
It said the Government would consider the committee’s recommendations and take further appropriate action in accordance with legal and financial propriety.
The Government attributed the time being taken to the need to arrive at an approach that is legally sound and financially sustainable.
