Opposition members in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly today staged a walkout over the issue of alleged illegal appointment of daily and need-based casual labourers by the state government.
After Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather told the House that 2,743 casual workers and daily wagers had been engaged by various departments in the last four years, Lal Chand (BJP) inquired how these appointments had been made when there was an official ban on it.
CPI(M) member M Y Tarigami demanded that the government should clarify whether it had actually appointed casual labourers and daily wagers as earlier in the day, in reply to a question by him, the government had said no appointments were made so far as the operational modalities are still being worked out.
JKNPP members Harshdev Singh and Balwant Singh Mankotia and Ashwani Kumar Sharma of JSM also slammed the government for not taking the matter seriously.
Giving explanation, Rather said as far as casual and need-based labour are concerned, a government order had been issued in 2005 which allowed four departments to engage such workers.
He, however, said no daily wagers may be appointed and action would be taken against the officials concerned if any violations were detected.
Not satisfied with the reply, opposition members raised slogans and staged a walkout from the House.
Later, Tarigami told reporters that the government has given contradictory replies to separate questions on the same issue.
"The government has illegally appointed thousands of workers without going through procedural norms - no advertisements were issued, no applications were called, but the appointments were made," JKNPP member Harshdev Singh said.
