Firdous Qadri
Srinagar, Mar 23: (GNS) Outraged by the ‘step-motherly approach’ of the authorities concerned, dozens of Health Department daily-wagers staged a protest demonstration demanding release of their minimum wages ‘withheld’ since year 2018.
An agitated daily-wager talking to media said that despite performing their duties from dawn to dusk, they have been facing the official apathy regarding their genuine demand.
“We have been religiously performing our duties even through these tough times and have to clear the clutter out of the hospitals and health facilities, however we have been met with injustice time and again”, he said.
“Even as all the department daily-wagers are being paid minimum wages, we somehow fail to understand as to why we have been made an exception despite our work to keep the surroundings clean”, he said adding that “If such a thing continued we are left with no other option then to go for a ‘Kaam Chodh Hartal”.
“We urge the authorities to pay us our due as we are from downtrodden strata”, he said further.
Another agitated daily-wager seconding the demands of his colleague said that, they have been facing a step-motherly approach from the authorities concerned.
“We are around sixteen hundred workers working in the Health Department as Consolidated Sweepers, Drivers and Helpers since 1994 however notwithstanding our contributions we are being ignored time and again by the authorities”, he said adding that “some of us are paid 840, some 560 and some just a mere hundred rupees.”
“We had appealed the authorities on several occasions asking them to consider our demand to pay according to 27-F order of 2018, wherein each daily wager is entitled to receive 225 per day, however nothing significant has been done to approve it in our favour even as daily-wagers of other departments are receiving it”, he said.
“We even had approached LG and his advisor RR Bhatnagar, who had communicated it with department concerned however the file seems to have got stuck somewhere between Administrative and Finance departments'”, he said.
“Each time we approach the authorities regarding our demand, each time they turn their backs onto us on one or the other ground” he said.
“We yet again reiterate our demand to the higher-ups asking them to consider our genuine demands to alleviate our sufferings”, he added. (GNS)
