SRINAGAR: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) employees association on Wednesday staged protest against the government for ‘failing to regularize them from past nine years.’
Dr Tasaduq, a protester told Press Trust of Kashmir that, government has ignored them as despite working in the department from past nine years with dedication, the government has failed to regularize their duties.
He added that the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Abdul Haq has gravely hurt the sentiments of the staff working under MGNREGA by lying in the state legislative assembly about the nature of their employment and that travelling allowance, compensatory allowance or border allowance is paid to them.
The protesters demanded that government should frame a job policy for their regularization.
“If our demands are not full filled, we will intensify our protest,” they said and contended the minister’s claims that the members of staff are not the government employees’, underlining that they were engaged after selection by district selection board framed by state’s Rural Development Department.
Addressing the protesters, president said that stated that people of all sections of the society were fed up with the state government. He added that while the government employees are busy working, the state government s busy devising anti-employee policies.
He added that several MGNERGA employees were recruited following the complete procedure which included advertisements in the newspapers and preparation of merit lists and yet the MGNREGA workers have not been regularized after working for so many years.
The employees later appealed Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti to intervene into the matter and fulfill their demands at earliest.