Government employees protest in Srinagar

Dozens of government employees staged a protest here Saturday against what they termed the anti-employee policies of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The employees gathered at the Press Enclave at Residency Road in summer capital Srinagar raising slogans against the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government in the state.

"We shall neither tire nor bow before the brute force being used by the state government to put down our peaceful voice and legitimate demands," Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) president Abdul Qayoom Wani told the protesters.

"We had planned to hold a seminar on the employees' demands inside the CAPD (Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution) office in the city today (Saturday). Police sealed all entry and exit points at the proposed venue, forcing us to gather at the Press Enclave to hold the protest," Wani said.

"This protest is against the use of force by the state government against its employees. We demand withdrawal of essential services maintenance act (ESMA) and the withdrawal of invoking of no-work-no-pay rule," he added.

"We demand implementation of the agreement already signed between the government and its employees", Wani told the protesters.

Wani and some other protesters were later detained.

State government employees have been demanding enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years, removal of pay anomalies and regularisation of daily wage and adhoc employees in the state.

--Indo-Asian News Service

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