SRINAGAR, April 25: Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) senior leader and former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir on Saturday urged the J&K UT government to release pending wages of Hospital Development Fund (HDF) workers, daily wagers and casual labourers in view of the COVID lockdown and holy month of Ramadan.
In a statement issued here, Mir said that the HDF workers have been performing their duties in the hospitals as the front line warriors against the COVID-19 pandemic. “These workers like other medical staff including doctors and paramedics have put their lives in risk to attend to the COVID patients and perform other duties in the hospitals during this contagious disease. So it is travesty of justice that they are being denied their wages, pending since long,” Mir observed.
The JKAP leader remarked that the casual labourers and daily wagers working in different departments particularly in essential service wings of the government are too suffering for want of release of their salaries. “The government should take into consideration the prevailing tough times caused by the COVID and ensure that these hapless frontline workers are paid their wages without any further delay,” Mir demanded.
He said that hundreds of daily wagers, seasonal labourers, contingent paid labourers working in department like Wildlife, PHE, Forest, Irrigation and Flood Control, Agriculture, Floriculture, Horticulture and PDD are craving for release of their pending wages and their families are facing immense difficulties in view of the current inflation.
“The government must clear the wages and salaries of these workers and enable their families to cope up with the COVID lockdown and make necessary arrangements for the holy month of Ramadan,” Mir demanded.
