The employment in Jammu and Kashmir has remained the war cry for the ruling government in the Union Territory with the administration making steps towards filling the vacant posts and also passing the directions to every department with regard to identifying the posts. However, despite spending decades in different departments, the key players in the government functioning are being ignored as there has been seemingly no action from the successive government in regularizing the casual daily wagers in Jammu and Kashmir, which simultaneously pushed them to the wall. Serving in different departments, these employees are not weaker or less important for running the affairs, but despite that, they couldn’t find themselves at par with the other permanent and regularized employees. One fails to understand why the government amidst the promises of employment to the people are not taking keen interest with regard to the regularization of the casual daily wagers. While the basic demand of regularization of these employees is neglected, they have once again demanded that budget preparations be carried out in accordance with the Minimum Wages Act. The Forum has stated that with budget discussions approaching, if no decision is taken by the evening of November 27, employees will stage a symbolic protest to press for their demands. At this juncture, the government needs to look into the sufferings of these employees and must find some ways to ensure that all the demands of the casual daily wagers are fulfilled in a stipulated time so that they could heave a sigh of relief.
Homes for homeless
The government has identified nearly five lakh people in Jammu and Kashmir without permanent housing with an aim to provide...