Diplomat Correspondent
Srinagar, (DD) Employees of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department have announced a protest against the alleged delay in the implementation of a government order concerning their long-pending service regularisation and other benefits.
The protest, scheduled to begin later this week, comes in response to what employees describe as “unwarranted silence” from the administration despite earlier commitments. According to the agitating employees, a formal government order related to regularisation of services and service benefits for daily-wage and casual workers had been issued months ago, but is yet to be implemented on the ground.
“We have been rendering our services for years—some of us for decades—but the government continues to delay justice. The repeated assurances are proving hollow,” said one protest leader, speaking anonymously.
The employees have also accused concerned departments of creating procedural bottlenecks to delay implementation. They claim that despite being vital to the delivery of water supply and related services across Jammu and Kashmir, they remain deprived of job security, promotions, and timely wages.
The protest is likely to affect PHE services, especially in rural and semi-urban belts, if the stalemate is not resolved. The employees have urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the Chief Secretary to personally intervene and direct immediate implementation of the pending order.
As of now, the government has not issued any formal response to the protest announcement.(DD)