Daily wagers hold protest; demand tabling of regularisation panel report in Kashmir Assembly

Hundreds of daily wage employees of Jal Shakti department staged a protest here on Thursday, October 23, 2025, demanding that the government release the report of the committee constituted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on regularization of their services.

The United Front of PHE Employees in Jammu has urged the Chief Minister to submit the committee report to the Parliament.

The labor community has also threatened to stage an aggressive protest on October 27 if their demands are not met, arguing that daily wagers have been fighting for the regularization of their services for over two decades.

On the first day of the autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, workers staged a dharna demonstration at the Jal Shakti office in the city, chanting “We want justice”.

Daily wage personnel said they will continue their actions to regulate and implement the Minimum Wage Law.

“We have been protesting for over 1,200 days, but the government has failed to fulfill our demand for regulation of daily betting. We want to remind the government of our demand on the first day of the assembly session and know the fate of the committee report,” PHE Employees’ United Front (Jammu State) leader Ravi Hans told reporters.

He said that in the previous Parliament session, Prime Minister Omar Abdullah had formed a committee on regulating daily betting.

“While we were on the road during the last session, an announcement was made to the committee by the Prime Minister and he was given a six-month period to table the report. It was supposed to be submitted on September 19, but so far we do not know the fate of the report,” he said.

The labor organization demanded that the government table the report in the current session. “If the government does not submit the report to Parliament, the front will stage an aggressive protest on October 27,” he warned.

On March 19, the Jammu and Kashmir government constituted a six-member committee to examine issues related to the regulation of daily wage laborers in the Union territory.

Mr. Abdullah announced the establishment of a commission in the Parliament and said that a road map would be prepared to be presented in the next budget session.

The committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary, was mandated to examine various issues, including humanitarian, legal and financial matters, and recommend measures related to the regularization of daily, seasonal and other workers in Jammu and Kashmir.

There are an estimated 67,000 daily wage workers in various departments in Jammu and Kashmir.