PHE workers extend ongoing strike by 72 hours across Jammu

The Public Health Engineering (PHE) workers on Thursday extended their ongoing strike by 72 hours in support of various demands including release of pending wages and regularisation of services.

The PHE workers had begun their strike on February 7. The stir has led to a drinking water crisis in most parts of the Jammu region.

"We have decided to extend the ongoing strike by 72 hours and if the government failed to address our issues, we have no option but to hit the roads," a leader of the protesters said.

Police on Wednesday foiled an attempt by thousands of PHE workers to stage a rally from the office of the chief engineer to the Raj Bhavan here.

"After the end of the 72-hour deadline, over 22,000 workers from across the Jammu region will gather here and come on the roads to press for their genuine demands," the leader said.

He said the wages of the workers are pending for the last 65 months, while they have served the department for over two decades with a hope that their services will get regularised one day.

"We have only got assurances from time and again and therefore, we will not budge till our demands are met...with or without Article 370, our fate remains the same and our families are suffering due to the failure of the government to address our issues," he said.