KL Report

SRINAGAR

The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an amalgam of various employees unions, on Sunday called for a two-day strike on November 11 and 12 to press for fulfillment of pending demands and release of their detained leaders including Abdul Qayoom Wani—the president  Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC).

A senior JCC leader told a local news agency, KNS, that an emergency meeting of the Committee was held in City wherein prevailing situation vis-à-vis ‘frequent’ arrests of employee leaders, ‘brute force’ used by administration against protesting employees and their pending demands were discussed threadbare.

“The meeting was attended by over 50 prominent employees’ representatives, headed by Farooq Ahmad Trali, senior JCC leader and general secretary EJAC (Q). The meeting decided to call for a 2-days strike including pen down call for Monday,” a senior JCC leader told KNS on phone.

The JCC leader said that if the authorities fail to release their detained leaders including Abdul Qayoom Wani, Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, Reyaz Ahmad, Abdul Qayoom Beigh, Mohammad Rafi and Abdul Qayoom Sofi by Monday evening, the employees have been appealed to assemble at Press Enclave near Pratap Park Srinagar on Tuesday to stage a protest demonstration.

“The meeting condemned the brute force used by police against employees who were peacefully protesting for fulfillment of their pending demands. Besides this the government’s policy to crackdown on employee leaders was also severely criticized.  It was also pledged that employee won’t succumb to any pressure tactics and will continue their peaceful struggle till all their pending demands are fulfilled by the government,” Farooq Ahmad Trali told KNS.
On Saturday, hundreds of government employees staged a protest demonstration at press enclave here to press for fulfillment of their pending demands, besides revocation of cases registered against employees and their leaders under Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). However, after the protest demonstration was over, the police swung into action detaining dozens of employee leaders including Abdul Qayoom Wani, Mohammad Ashraf Bhat and others. They were lodged in central jail Srinagar.

Wani, president Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) had before his detention, addressed the protesting employees reaffirming his stand that there will be no compromise on fulfillment of their pending demands. “We will never bow before the brute force of the administration and we condemn the state government’s policy of muzzling our peaceful voice and delaying fulfillment of our genuine demands,” he had told the protesting employees.

Wani had added, “This protest is against the use of force by the state government against its employees. We demand withdrawal of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and the government should revoke its order of no-work-no-pay without any delay.”

The EJAC president had demanded that implementation of the agreement reached between the employee leadership and the government.

Pertinently, JCC is demanding enhancement in the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, regularisation for the daily rated workers, casual labourers and need based workers engaged after 1994, removal of pay anomaly of clerical cadre (pre-revised Rs 6500-10500) and budgetary support for public sector.

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