J&K govt employees skip work, demand security for families: Report

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Moneycontrol News 

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik's administration was left paralysed on February 18 after state government employees refused to attend work, the Indian Express has reported.

According to the report, they were protesting against the violence faced by Kashmiri employees in Jammu following the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy that martyred 40 jawans in Pulwama.

In view of the curfew imposed in Jammu, State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses were provided to the employees for plying to and fro from the office. However, the employees had refused to board the bus, stating that they cannot leave their families alone.

"We want the Governor’s administration to ensure foolproof security to the Kashmiri employees and their families in Jammu. If it cannot do so, it should close the Civil Secretariat for a week and send us back to the Valley. We will return to Jammu and resume our duties once the situation is normal," a union leader told the newspaper.

Ghulam Rasool, president of All Civic Secretariat Employees Union, said that some Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers had gathered outside the Secretariat, demanding that adequate security be provided to their families.

According to the report, government quarters in Subhash Nagar and Janipura have reported instances of stone-pelting since February 14, the day of the terrorist attack.

A vehicle was also reportedly set afire in the locality on the night of February 17, after a 'petrol bomb' was hurled. However, SSP (Jammu) Tejinder Singh said that initial investigations had ruled out the possibility of a petrol bomb.

Stating that such attacks are undertaken to disturb communal harmony,  Wajahat Hussain, vice-president of the Jammu and Kashmir Employees Joint Action Committee, asked how such attacks can take place while a curfew is in place.

The report states that around 3,000 of the 5,000 employees at Civil Secretariat are from Kashmir. According to the report, employees from Jammu have left their government quarters and returned to their homes.