Some members of Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigam limited (UPNl) Employees’ Federation were injured in police lathi charge when they were trying to break the barricade installed outside the Secretariat on Tuesday.
Around 22 protesters were injured while eight of them were seriously injured, informed State president of the agitating organisation, Bhavesh Jaguri while talking to The Pioneer. Jaguri demanded suspension of the policemen who had charged batons on the protesters.
The protesters continued to sit at the barricade, outside the Secretariat, braving the batons, Jaguri said while asserting that their protest would continue till their demand is met. However, the police denied having taken recourse to lathi-charge.
The protesters keep boycotting their works, demanding increment in salaries and regularisation of the contractual workers deputed at various departments under UPNl for the past few days.
Hundreds of contractual workers have been resorting to work boycott stir since Monday, affecting the functioning of many departments of the state Government. The association of the UPNl workers gave a call for indefinite strike in support of their demands.
large number of UPNl workers assembled at the agitation site in Parade Ground on Tuesday and rallied for the Secretariat. The protesters were stopped at the barricade outside the Secretariat. As they tried to break the barricade police lathi-charged to disperse them. However, City Magistrate lalit Narayan Mishra said that they had not ordered lathi-charge on the protesters.
Addressing the workers, Jaguri said that the then minister in charge of UPNl, had in 2014 declared in the State Assembly that no UPNl worker would be removed and the UPNl workers would be absorbed in the departments they are working on contract. But the declaration is still unfulfilled, he said.
The association of UPNl workers is blaming the State Government for not acting on its commitment and misleading the contractual workers. They cite the recent decision of the state Government to start recruitment from Staff Selection Commission for the posts in which the contractual UPNl workers are employed as one such misleading act.