Police foil JCC march Work Affected In Govt Offices, Civil Secretariat; Option Of Indefinite Strike Open: Qayoom Wani Srinagar, July 8: Police Monday resorted to cane-charging, used water cannons and detained hundreds of government employees to foil their march towards Civil Secretariat here. Work in government offices, including civil secretariat, remained affected across the state due to the lockout observedby the employees to press for their demands. Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), anamalgam of the employees, had called for lockout of government offices and civil secretariat march to press for their demands including enhancement of retirement age from58 to 60 years, regularization of daily wagers and consolidated workers; and removal of pay anomalies. Hundreds of government employees assembled at Khalsa High School nearExhibition Ground here under the banner of JCC, and raised slogans demanding ‘implementation of agreement’. Employees used loud speakers to make their voices and slogans audible to farthest away. Police swung into action when the protestors reached near Jehangir Chowk here on their way to the Civil Secretariat. Police used cane-charging and water cannons to disperse the protestors and rounded up scores of them. Around 200 employees were bundled into already waiting police vehicles including their leaders Abdul Qayoom Wani, Farooq Trali, Nusrat Beigh, Parvez Dar, Muhammad Amin Khan and Aftab Andrabi. They were lodged in Shaheed Gunj, Shergarhi and Karan Nagar police stations. Scuffle between police and protestorscreated panic and traffic movement was affected for around 30 minutes in the city centre - Lal Chowk. However, senior JCC leader Muntazir Mohi-ud-Din along with other employees succeeded to reach civil secretariat main gate after giving slipto the police. They were immediatelydetained near Secretariat gate and lodged in police station Shaheed Gunj. Few employees have reportedly received minor injuries in police action. Extending support to JCC call, Civil Secretariat Employees Union (CSEU) observed protest demonstration while the normal work in secretariat remained effected. “The presence of officers was low while non-gazetted employees observed strike,” said eyewitnesses. In Jammu, government employees assembled at Divisional Commissioner’s office and held a protest demonstration lead by JCC senior leaders Gafoor Dar, Ganish Khujuria and Amreet Singh. In Leh and Kargil, government employees staged protest demonstrations before Deputy Commissioner’s office lead by JCC leaders Syeda Ladhaki and Muhammad Yehaya respectively. They submitted memorandum of demands to their respective DDCs. Meanwhile, on the call of JCC, employees observed complete lockout across the state. Due to the strike call work in government officeswas affected. Most of government schools in the valley remained closed. “Government departments presented the deserted look. Visitors had to gone back disappointed as they couldn’t find anyone in government offices,” said eye witnesses. Expressing satisfaction over today’s response to the call, JCC spokespersonFarooq Trali, said: “100 percent lockout was observed in governmentoffices across the state including Leh and Kargil.” He said JCC would meet on July 15 at Srinagar to deliberate and discuss the issues and devise ‘decisive strategy’ to press for their demands. Condemning the police action against employees, JCC senior leader Abdul Qayoom Wani, said: “Today’s lockout and protests across the state should serve an eye-opener for the government. Employees won’t compromise with the agreement that was entered between JCC and it (Government). We’re not habitual of coming out on streets but callousness of government compels us to intensify our agitation. Today, besides of government offices, civil secretariat employees also observed lockout and shacked the government.” He didn’t rule out ‘indefinite strike’ option in coming days. Warning the government to shun its ‘ego’, Wani said that coming days would be tougher for it. Asked, if the agitation of JCC has failed to reap any results till date, he said: “Major parts of the agreement have been implemented by government including release of arrears. But we demand that the agreement should be implemented as whole.” He said the pending demands didn’t include financial implications as the government is claiming. Appealing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to play role in solving issues of employees, Wani said: “CM has played an important role in past in solving our demands. We urge him to come forward again and end the deadlock.” Wani thanked the employees for making JCC lockout and strike call successful. Chairman CSEU and Conveyor JCC, Rouf Ahmad Bhat said that normal work remained affected in civil secretariat and various officers preferred to stay outside secretariat. “Complete pen down strike was observed in civil secretariat and it presented a deserted look.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 01:38:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015