Announces Committee to Devise Framework for Regularization of Daily Wagers, Sets 6-Month Deadline for Report
Suhail Khan
JAMMU, MARCH 11: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday, while reacting to the daily wagers’ issue, stated that the police are neither under his control nor his responsibility. He emphasized that the issue of daily wagers is not just financial but also a humanitarian concern.
Replying to the discussion on Budget 2025, the Chief Minister, as per Kashmir Despatch, said, “Through this House, I am announcing the formation of a committee under the Chief Secretary, which will include the Additional Chief Secretary to the CM, Commissioner Secretary GAD, Planning Secretary, and Law Secretary. Within six months, we will finalize a framework, determine the exact number of daily wagers, and assess how they can be regularized both legally and financially. Then, the policy will be discussed here in the next budget.”
Speaking about the plight of daily wagers, the Chief Minister emphasized that this is not merely a financial issue but also a humanitarian and social concern. Referring to the use of force against protesting daily wagers in Srinagar and Jammu, he remarked, “What happened to them yesterday, I do not want to repeat. But I must ask—why did the situation reach this stage?”
He recalled that during his previous tenure as Chief Minister, his government had initiated a framework for regularizing daily wagers. However, he noted that the 2014 elections and the devastating floods had disrupted these plans. Taking a dig at the opposition, he questioned their inaction, stating, “What did you (the opposition) do? I reviewed past budget speeches from your tenure and found no mention of daily wagers except in the fourth budget speech, where you vaguely spoke about ‘sustainable livelihood.’” He further pointed out that even after the issuance of SRO-520, only 577 daily wagers were regularized.
