The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Tuesday, accusing the Omar Abdullah government of ignoring the ongoing strike by daily wagers. Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma said the state government should make a statement about the daily wagers' strike.
"We raised concerns about the ongoing strike by daily wagers yesterday, but there has been no response from the government," he said. In response, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Sharma blamed the BJP for failing to resolve the issues of daily wagers. "We formed a committee within days to resolve the issues of daily wagers. Why didn’t the BJP form a committee to address their grievances over the past 10 years?" he asked.
Choudhary's criticism of the BJP triggered a heated exchange between the treasury benches and the opposition. As the uproar continued, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the BJP had admitted there had been no justice for daily wagers over the past 10 years. He also called for calm, although the BJP MLAs proceeded with their walkout in protest.
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Daily wagers from the Public Health Engineering (PHE/Jal Shakti) department, who are demanding regularisation, were cane-charged by the police on Monday after they attempted to march towards Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence in Jammu. The strike has affected the water supply in some parts of Jammu. The protest began at the BC Road PHE Complex and continued to Raghunath Bazar Chowk and Residency Road. When the police set up barricades, some protesters crossed them, prompting the police to use a mild cane charge.
Rajinder Singh Taj, a representative of the daily wagers, said, "For decades, many governments have deceived us. This is another deception. They gave us a lollypop. The government’s committee is just a delaying tactic. Such 'lollypops' cannot support our families." The issue of regularisation of daily wagers is a tricky one for the government due to the limited availability of funds.
