Srinagar,27 May (KNS): MP Anantnag and JKNC leader Hasnain Masoodi have asked the administration to depute 51 Daily Rated Workers (DRW) of now closed JK Cements to the Government Departments and release their long-pending dues.

In a statement released to Kashmir news service (KNS), Masoodi has lamented that JK Cements a  profit-making Public Sector Industrial Unit that till a few years back would pay millions in dividends to the Government as majority shareholder, was allowed to fall prey to mismanagement and maladministration and has been finally closed down.

It is intriguing that though all the cement factories in the same area are making a big profit, JK Cements got pushed into huge losses, the statement adds. It is stated that while the government after closure of the Industrial Unit has deputed 400 and odd employees working in the Unit, to other government departments, 51 Daily Rated Workers ( DRW) have not been deputed till date and left out high and dry without any source of sustenance.

The DRWs, it is stated, have more than one and half decade of dedicated service to their credit and have therefore statutorily protected and legally enforceable right to be treated at par with other employees of the Unit and deputed to other government departments.

Masoodi has asked the LG administration to take cognisance of the plight of the DRWs and their families pushed to near starvation and issue necessary orders deputing these Workers to government departments and release of long pending wages.

Masoodi, earlier took up the matter with Advisor to Lt Governor and through a written communication as well sought his intervention in the matter so that there is no further delay in the redressal of genuine grievances.(KNS)