The Muslim News

Srinagar, Jammyu & Kashmir, India, (Greater Kashmir): Work in all government and semi-government offices remain paralysed in Jammu and Kashmir on the second consecutive day Wednesday on account of the five day strike called by the employees joint consultative committee - apex body of employees, to press for their demands.

The strike crippled routine work in all district of Kashmir division where most of the government offices remained locked while as thin attendance of employees was witnessed in some offices. However, the emergency services, exempted from the strike, remained functional.

Almost all the offices housed in the old secretariat - hub of official activities in the summer capital – were locked, causing acute inconvenience to the public. These include vigilance department, excise and taxation, industries department, archives and archaeology and other departments.

The adjoining consumer affairs and public distribution department, divisional commissioners’ office and district development commissioner’s offices presented similar scenes. And the visitors to the offices had to return disappointed.

“I had to get some documents from the divisional commissioner’s office. I left from home early in the morning but when I reached Srinagar I found that clerical staff was missing and I had to return disheartened,” said Abdul Khaliq of Sopur.

Class-work in all government educational institutions remained suspended for the second consecutive day. The educational institutions wore a deserted look. The work remained affected in the colleges as well.

Besides, departments of agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture and directorate of industries remained locked.

Around 4.5 lakh employees in the state have proceeded on five days strike to press for release of arrears under sixth pay commission, enhancement in retirement age from 58 to 60, increase in housing and rental allowance, regularization of contractual workers and adhocees and increase in COLA. The stalemate over the demands between the state and the employees began in the middle of the last year leading to state-wide incessant strikes and protests by the employees.

Even as the government had agreed to most of the demands last August but, employees claim, the agreement remained restricted to mere paper work, resulting in fresh tussle between state and its work force. The government on the contrary reiterates, “it doesn’t have funds and resources” to pay the arrears while other demands like enhancement in retirement age are under consideration.

Pertinently, the employees who stayed out of the strike for the past two days would be joining it tomorrow on the call of JK employees’ joint action committee - JCC’s breakaway faction.

Irked by continuous disruption of work, the public is accusing the employees of taking them “hostage.”

JCC leader and president employees’ joint action committee, Abdul Qayoom Wani, said the strike was successful. He said they have dispatched leaders to the district headquarters to lead employees in the protest tomorrow.

“Employees would stage protest demonstrations in all the districts tomorrow,” he said.

WORK PARALYSED IN DISTRICTS

Reports coming in from various Valley districts including Islamabad, Bandipora, Varmul, Kupwara and Ganderbal said the entire government machinery remained crippled throughout the day. All government schools and colleges remained non-functional for the second consecutive day while the work in the offices of district development commissioners and other local offices remained badly affected, reports said.

Reports said only emergency services were operational in the hospitals but the routine patient care remained suspended.

INCIDENTS OF RANSACK

The executive engineer city drainage system, Farooq Ahmad, said he was assaulted by the striking employees for opening the office “and they ransacked the department.”

“We had gone there to release a cheque for refuelling of mobile dewatering units. But as soon as I opened the room the employees thrashed me and ransacked the office,” he said.

The employees have locked the building of directorate industries and commerce Kashmir which had made several offices of private organization inaccessible.

The employees in animal husbandry department also accused the employees of assaulting them and forcing the shutdown.

GKNN Adds from Jammu: Work in most of the government offices remained paralysed for the second consecutive day on Wednesday following five-day strike call by the Employees Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), while the agitation is likely to intensify following three days strike call, commencing Thursday, given by another fraction of employees unions.

Reports pouring in from various parts of Jammu region revealed that the employees in most of the government offices stayed away from the work throwing government machinery out of gear.

In Jammu, hundreds of employees assembled at Town Hall and Government Medical College hospital (Jammu) under the banner of Employees Joint Consultative Committee (EJCC), and staged noisy protest demonstration.

Out Patient Departments (OPD) at GMC hospital wore a deserted look due to the strike by paramedic staff forcing hundreds of patients to return back without any medical checkup.

The strike was also almost complete in other parts of the region including Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri, Poonch, Batote, Kishtwar, Ramban, Doda, Bhaderwah, Billawer, Reasi, Akhnoor, RS Pura and Akhnoor.

Meanwhile, another faction of employees under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees Joint Action Committee also jumped into the agitation and called for three days pen down strike, starting from March 11 to 13, 2010 across Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions.

Senior EJAC leaders including Ram Kumar Sharma, Gafoor Dar, and Babu Hussain Malik announced that employees would hold protest demonstrations in their respective offices from Thursday

Talking to Greater Kashmir, senior leader of EJAC Abdul Quyoom Wani said that employees have been prepared for decisive battle if their demands were not accepted by March 13.

“We have asked employees to assemble at their respective district and tehsil headquarters across the state and stage protest demonstrations on March 11 (Thursday) to pressurize the government,” averred Wani adding, “Fifth phase of agitation would be decisive and we are also planning to Gehrao civil secretariat here in the winter capital of the state”.

OFFICIALS SPEAKS

The officials, wishing anonymity, told Greater Kashmir that the government has not alternative to bring the system back to wheels. “No there is no alternative,” they said.

The principal secretary to Chief Minister, Khursheed Ganai, however said the government had appealed employees to restrain from going on strike “but they chose to go for it even knowing the people would suffer.”

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/today/full_story.asp?Date=11_3_2010&ItemID=65&cat=1

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