Daily wagers in Kashmir intensified their demonstrations by marching toward Nawa-I-Subha, the headquarters of the ruling party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) in Srinagar. The protests attended by thousands of daily-wage employees center on several longstanding grievances.

Workers are seeking a comprehensive policy for the regularisation of over 60,000 daily wagers who have served in various government departments for decades.

The march was triggered by dissatisfaction with the recent Jammu and Kashmir budget session discussions on daily wagers’ demands, which protesters claim did not sufficiently address their wage revision or job security.

By marching to Nawa-I-Subha, the workers aimed to hold the ruling party accountable for election promises regarding their welfare.

In response to the escalating protests, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced the formation of a high-level committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, to prepare a roadmap for regularisation.

Demonstrations at other locations, including the Chief Minister’s residence and the Civil Secretariat, saw a huge police deployment to stop the crowd of employees. 

In the intensifying protests and the march towards Nawa-I-Subha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has sought time to finalise a formal solution, primarily through the formation of a high-level committee to address the regularization of over 60,000 workers. He had requested employees to give two days’ time as the broader regularisation process is ongoing. 

Sajad Ahmad president Kashmir Daily wagers association said, “We want government to come clear on what policy they have made for the daily wagers regularization, do the policy cover those who are retire now or who have died that’s why we had organized the march, now the CM through his representatives have communicated us and requested for two days, if in those two days clarity is not announced publicly we will hit back to the roads.” 

Protesters have threatened to return to the National Conference headquarters if a clear, time-bound policy is not provided within two days.