Fazil Mir
Jammu, Feb 17 :
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday informed the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly that a total of 1,00,501 Casual, Daily Rated and Other Workers have been registered across various departments through Aadhaar-based biometric identification and skill profiling.
The information was placed before the House in a written reply during the ongoing session in response to multiple starred questions regarding regularization of workers engaged for over two decades, as per news agency Kashmir News Corner — KNC, As per the official data tabled in the Assembly, the registered workers include 69,696 casual labourers, 8,534 seasonal labourers, 8,836 daily rated/work charged employees, 3,092 part-time workers, 156 CIC operators, 5,757 NYC hamals/drivers of FCS&CA Department, 1,929 persons engaged under Hospital Development Fund, 2,153 part-time sweepers and 348 settlement assistants of the Revenue Department.
Region-wise figures reveal that 57,390 workers belong to Kashmir division, while 40,077 are from Jammu division.
Among departments, the highest number of such engagements are in PHE/I&FC (38,585), Power Development Department (13,616), Education (12,646), Forest (8,317) and Public Works (R&B) (6,801).
The government further informed the House that a Committee has been constituted vide Government Order No. 384-JK(GAD) of 2025 dated 19.03.2025, headed by the Chief Secretary, to examine the issue of regularization. The Committee has been mandated to assess various categories of workers, service rules, financial implications and legal ramifications before recommending a comprehensive roadmap.
The government stated that the matter involves legal, administrative and financial considerations, including compliance with constitutional provisions and judicial pronouncements governing public employment. It added that appropriate action will be taken after the Committee submits its recommendations within the established legal and fiscal framework. (KNC)