J&K: Daily wagers to be appointed in around nine categories

Jammu, Dec 14 (Only Kashmir): The significant move by the Government to regularize services of daily earners languishing for nearly two decades or so, is going to benefit thousands of such appointees in around nine categories. The Government has firmed-up the process for regularizing their services and the formal orders in this regard are is likely to be issued soon by the Finance Department.
The beneficiaries will include Daily Rated, Casual, Seasonal, HDF and Local Fund Workers, NYCs, Land Donors, SPOs and Adhoc/Contractual appointees left-out under the J&K Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act-2010 for want of eligibility criteria.
On the basis of their educational, technical and professional profile, these Workers have been categorized as skilled and non-skilled for regularization and imbursement of remuneration. “They will be in addition entitled to all the financial and service benefits including annual pay hike, pension under NPS, leave & medical reimbursement, periodical hike in remuneration akin to pay commission, maintenance of service records and will be covered under work, conduct and discipline rules including retirement,” a Finance Department official said.
“Following the initiative of the Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, the Government has already approved the roadmap for bringing the daily wagers onto the rolls of government and the formal SRO in this regard will be issued by the Finance Department within a couple of days,” said Minister for Finance, Dr Haseeb Drabu.
Although skilled and unskilled workers are to be put in different scales of remuneration, it will correspondingly increase on the basis of their length of engagement.
Regarding the number of Workers to be benefitted by the regularization scheme, Finance Department officials said, although various figures are being projected regarding their number, but the exact number will be determined and finalized through bio-metric verification of every such worker.
The highest number of such workers are engaged in PHE Department followed by Power Development Department, School Education Department, Public Works Department, Irrigation & Flood Control Department, Forest Department, Health & Medical Education Department, Agriculture Department, Housing & Urban Development Department, Tourism Department, Animal Husbandry Department and Fisheries Department. There are also such workers in other Departments who will benefit from the regularization scheme.
Dr Drabu had during the last budget session made a commitment on the floor of the house that the process for regularization of casual workers of various categories will start from the next financial year in terms of the set guidelines and criteria.
Pertinently, the state cabinet had, on October 23 this year, accepted the roadmap prepared by the high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary for absorption/regularization of Casual/Seasonal Labourers/ Daily Rated Workers to ensure sustainable livelihood to hundreds of such Workers engaged over a period of several years. The cabinet had asked the Finance Department to draft and issue the formal orders for operationalization of the roadmap.
Dr Drabu said policy enshrined in SRO-64 of 1994 for regularization of daily rated workers/work-charged employees engaged prior to cut off date of January 31, 1994 is already in place from the date of issuance of the SRO-64.
He said the Empowered Committee of the is meeting at regular intervals and will continue to meet till last one of the adhoc/contractual appointee, eligible and registered with the Finance Department is cleared for regularization, if eligible, in terms of the J&K Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act-2010.
Dr Drabu said the Government is also taking a holistic review of SRO-202 which was issued on 30 June 2015. As per this SRO the appointees in non-gazetted cadre are entitled to basic minimum pay and grade pay during the first five years of the service.