Protests Erupt Over Arbitrary Dismissal of Employees By JK Industries Ltd. in Srinagar

Syed Sajid Hussain, SRINAGAR: In a demonstration held at the Old Secretariat in Srinagar on May 5, a group of Need Based and Contractual employees (NBC) vented their outrage over Jammu and Kashmir Industries Limited (JKIL) for what they called “arbitrary mass disengagement”.The aggrieved employees alleged that JKIL has disengaged over 150 workers without offering any formal notification or explanation. The raisers of slogans stated that the abrupt cutoff of employment has plunged them and their entire households into trauma.“We have been working for JK Industries Ltd for several years. Some in fact for more than a decade. Only to be told one fine day that we are redundant. No reasons were supplied,” said one protestor and shocked employee who added that “JRIL did practically nothing”The employees have demanded immediate reinstatement along with unchallenged right to disengagement and called for a participatory inquiry into the disengagement process. Many of them emphasized the need for political action.The protestors appealed to Omar Abdullah’s government to intervene to specifically take measures that would expedite safe guarding their employment.