Srinagar, Mar 06 (KNS): Police on Monday used tear gas canisters to disperse the National Health Mission (NHM) employees after they tried to march towards the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti’s Gupkar residence.
On the sixth consecutive day of the protest, scores of NHM employees sustained injuries after police used tear gas canisters to disperse them at Polo view here.
The protest march of the NHM employees also resulted in the traffic mess in the area. Scores of vehicles were seen stranded on the roads as the protesters blocked the main road outside the Press Enclave thereby leaving the commuters to suffer.
Pertinently, the protesters had earlier pegged their tents at Srinagar’s Press Enclave to press the government over their demands of regularization.
However, the protesters including men and women amid anti-government sloganeering tried to march towards the CM’s Gupkar residence during which police detained scores of protesters while some of the protesters mostly women managed to reach Polo View where police used tear gas canisters to disperse them thereby resulted in the injuries to scores of protesters.
“Muzaffar Ahmad, one of the protester sustained severe injuries during the police action,” NHM protesters said.
Earlier, the NHM employees while talking to KNS said that the government has ignored them at all fronts.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
“We had planned to stage 72-hour-long strike against the government for failing to regularize the employees but the silence maintained by the government over our demands forced us to extend the strike,” the employees said.
They said that the silence maintained by the government clearly indicates that they don’t pay heed over the sufferings of people. “Our demands are genuine and must have been fulfilled much earlier,” they said.
“We appeal to the government to fulfill our demands as soon as possible so that the employees working in the department from past several years could feel a sigh of relief,” they demanded.
Meanwhile, the protesters who were carrying placards reading: ‘regularize our services’ tried to march towards CM’s Gupkar residence.
However, police swung into action and detained scores of union members while some protesters who managed to carry out a protest march had to face tear gas shells at Polo View, resulting in the injuries to some of the protesters.
Notably, the NHM employees are on strike from Wednesday last week against the government for ‘failing to regularize them from past nearly 10 years.’ (KNS)