Srinagar, 29-Jan: Former Cabinet Minister and Apni Party Senior Vice President Ghulam Hassan Mir on Saturday extended solidarity with the JKRTC employees who are currently on strike demanding the resolution of the numerous issues faced by them.Mir impressed on the administration to immediately resolve the problems of J&K Road Transport Corporation employees especially with regards to the withholding of their salaries for several months.In a statement issued to , Mir asserted that the government must release the four months pending salaries in favor of the JKRTC employees without any further delay and ensure that a timely disbursement of salaries takes place in future so as to avoid inconvenience to the workers.“These employees serve the people with utmost diligence and the administration must act promptly in order to address their grievances. Apni Party stands with them unreservedly. They have families to feed and it is painful to see that for months salaries have not been disbursed to these employees. Such eventualities must not happen in future,” he said.Mir also raised the demand of regularization of consolidated employees while stressing to recognize the services of these adroit workers who had spent their lives working in the JKRTC department.“It is high time for the government to address the long pending plea of the consolidated workers and take initiatives to regularize them. They have worked tirelessly in strengthening the transport corporation through years and there is no better way to acknowledge their contributions except through mitigating their sufferings,” he said.Besides, he urged the administration to release the post-retirement benefits in favor of the retired employees who are presently being pushed from pillar to post as their appeals often go unheard.“The authorities incharge should provide all the benefits that are guaranteed for the retired employees and they must not be allowed to suffer anymore. Moreover, the sanctioned 56% DA in favor of the said employees needs also to be released immediately,” he said.(CNS)
