JAMMU: Two private members’ bills seeking the regularisation of daily-rated workers were introduced in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly by Mir Saifullah of the ruling National Conference and Waheed Ur Rehman Parra of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party. The move marks a rare bipartisan convergence in the legislature over the plight of more than 60,000 individuals who have been working for years as daily wagers, casual labourers, consolidated workers and seasonal staff across departments without job security, social benefits or formal recognition as government employees.
Mir Saifullah, a former law minister and senior National Conference leader, introduced a bill titled The Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers (Regularisation of Services) Bill, 2024, seeks to provide a statutory mechanism for absorbing daily-rated and casual workers who have completed five years of continuous service in government departments, public sector undertakings, autonomous bodies or local authorities. Citing precedents set by earlier regularisation drives, Saifullah argued that continued ad hocism had created an exploitative environment where individuals were forced to work full-time duties without being entitled to pensions, increments, or health insurance. His bill proposes a formal screening committee, department-wise data verification, and time-bound processing of cases. It also provides for age relaxation, continuation of service benefits from the date of initial appointment, and inclusion of past service for pension calculations.
On the other side of the aisle, Waheed Parra, one of three newly elected MLAs from the PDP, introduced a separate bill on the same issue. His proposal is more expansive in its articulation of the rights of daily wagers, framing the issue as one of constitutional justice, human dignity, and state responsibility. Parra’s bill not only calls for the regularisation of eligible workers but also mandates equal pay for equal work, social security cover, including provident fund and medical benefits, and the prohibition of future ad hoc hiring without adherence to fair recruitment norms.
In defence of his bill, Parra has stressed that the state had for decades used the services of thousands of individuals under different titles—daily rated, need-based, land-donors, CP workers—without formal appointments, pushing families into economic and psychological distress. He criticised what he called a “deliberate bureaucratic delay” in resolving the issue and accused successive governments of using the workers as a “vote bank without giving them their dues.”
Although both bills aim to provide relief to the same constituency of workers, their language and framing reflect the political standing of their movers. Saifullah, a senior ruling party figure, has pitched his bill as a corrective measure within the existing administrative framework, focusing on feasibility, financial implications and departmental vetting. Parra, a first-time legislator from the opposition, has framed his bill as a rights-based legislative intervention, grounded in the principle that the state must not exploit its most vulnerable workforce.
Independent reports and figures suggest that more than 60,000 individuals are currently engaged as daily wagers in departments such as PHE, R&B, PDD, Forest, Agriculture, Irrigation, Health and Local Bodies, some of them for as long as 10 to 15 years. Despite assurances made repeatedly in budget speeches and administrative circulars, most have remained outside the ambit of regularisation. The absence of job security has led to frequent protests, long legal battles, and a sense of institutional abandonment among workers, many of whom perform critical public functions such as maintenance of water supply, electricity distribution, sanitation and field-level data collection.
While private members’ bills rarely make it to the statute books, the introduction of two bills on the same issue from opposite sides of the political aisle underscores the depth of the crisis and the growing pressure on the government to act decisively. Whether the Assembly will allow a substantive debate or send the bills to a select committee remains uncertain. However, for tens of thousands of workers waiting for recognition and relief, the bills offer a glimmer of hope and a rare moment of legislative visibility.
