KL Desk
Srinagar
The employees’ Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an umbrella organization of various trade unions, Wednesday threatened the state government with intensifying their agitation which includes launching of an indefinite strike in government offices across the state, if their “genuine” demands were not met.
The JCC leaders accused the Omar Abdullah led coalition government of ditching and backstabbing them by not implementing the agreements signed between the employees’ leaders and the government regarding fulfillment of the state employees’ demands.
“On the personal intervention of the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his advisor Devender Rana, we negotiated with the government and gave them time which they asked for. Even agreements were signed between the government and employees’ leadership but thus far they have backtracked from their commitments”, said JCC leader Muhammad Khurshid Alam while talking to KNS.
He said the employees will in no way step back from their resolve and will intensify the strike if their demands were not met and the agreements were not acted upon. “We wont step back, even if we would have to launch and indefinite strike”, he said adding the government was pushing them into taking extreme steps.
Castigating the state government for allegedly dilly dallying on promises made to the leadership, JCC leader Abdul Qayoom Wani while echoing Alam’s sentiments said the political leadership was creating hurdles in fulfillment of their demands. “The government had set up a committee under the state Chief Secretary, which has submitted its report to the government, however, it is unfortunate that noting is being done on ground to implement the recommendations”, said Wani.
The JCC leaders while appealing people to understand their compulsions admitted that the hartals and strikes directly affect common people of the state. “We know people suffer due to hartals, however, people should understand that the government has been deceiving us from time to time. We appeal them to bear with us and understand that it is the state government which is pushing us into such tactics”, the leaders said adding “If compelled, we will go for indefinite strike and the responsibility for that will lie on the shoulders of the state government as they have left us with no other option”.
Wani said the JCC will intensify its protest in the upcoming days. “We will leave no room for the government to ditch us and all the employees of the state are with us”, he added.
Meanwhile, normal work remained paralyzed on the second day of three day strike called by the employees Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), which began on Tuesday in government offices across Jammu and Kashmir. The pen down and protest programme spanning three days had earlier been called for by the JCC in its effort to pressurize the authorities for fulfilling their long pending demands including enhancement of retirement age of state employees from 58 to 60 years.
Demanding the implementation of the agreement reached between the JCC and the State Government last year, the employees pledged that they would continue their agitation till their genuine demands are not conceded by the Government. Registering their protest, employees under the banner of JCC staged protest demonstrations at various places in Jammu and Srinagar.
Meanwhile, the JCC leaders said the Government had back stabbed them by dilly dallying on fulfillment of their genuine demands. “Now we will not give up our agitation till our demands are not conceded”, they said.
On the third day of the strike on Thursday, JCC has planned to hold massive protest marches in Srinagar, Jammu and Ladakh.
According to JCC sources, senior trade union leader Muhammad Khurshid Alam will lead a protest rally of state employees from Sheri-e-Kashmir Park to the office of the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir. Similar protest rallies will be taken out in Jammu where another senior JCC leader Abdul Qayoom Wani will lead the protest rally from Udyog Bhavan to the Divisional Commissioner’s office, the added.
Protes rallies have also been planned in the Ladakh region where employees leader Mohammd Rahi will lead the protest at Kargil while as Rafiq Ahmad will lead a protest rally at Leh.
