SRINAGAR: The protesting Pandit employees recruited under the PM’s job package in Jammu and Kashmir will not get salaries unless they resume duty, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said on Wednesday.
The employees have been on strike since May 12 to press for their demand of relocation to Jammu.
Responding to Sinha’s remark, the Pandit employees said salary at the cost of their lives is not acceptable to them. “They (PM’s package employees) had met me after the killing of a Pandit staffer and wanted some breathing period,” Sinha told the media in Jammu. “We released their salary till August. However, this cannot happen that salaries will be provided to those sitting at home,” Sinha said.
“It is a clear and loud message,” he stressed, adding that the government is ready to provide them security or any other assistance, and a committee has been formed to look into their demand. About 5,500 Pandit employees have not resumed duty since the killing of Rahul Bhat by militants on May 12 at the Tehsildar’s office in central Kashmir.
They are demanding relocation to Jammu in view of continued targeted killings in the Valley. Explaining that employees of Kashmir division cannot be transferred to Jammu, Sinha said almost all Pandit employees have been deployed at district headquarters, while some are posted at tehsil headquarters. “Some of those working for rural development have been posted in areas near the city,” he said.
The government has also assured the minority community members that they won’t be deployed alone but in groups of two or more, Sinha said. After Sinha’s statement, the Pandit employees staged a protest outside the Press Club in Jammu. Terming the statement “unfortunate and insensitive,” Ranjan Jotshi, vice president, All Migrant Displaced Employees Association Kashmir, said, “Instead of addressing our concerns, he talks about salaries.”
He added: “It is a pressure tactic to force us to return to the Valley. We will not go back and reiterate our demand for temporary relocation to Jammu till the situation improves in Kashmir.” Jotshi said.
‘It’s a pressure tactic to force us to return’
About 5,500 Pandit employees have not resumed duty since the killing of Rahul Bhat by militants on May 12. Ranjan Jotshi, vice president, All Migrant Displaced Employees Association Kashmir, said, “It is a pressure tactic to force us to return to the Valley. We will not go back and reiterate our demand for temp-orary relocation to Jammu till the situation improves in Kashmir.”