By IANS,
Srinagar : Security forces Thursday intercepted dozens of protesting Jammu and Kashmir government employees, foiling a march to the civil secretariat here in the state’s summer capital.
The employees, led by union leaders Abdul Qayoom Wani and Farooq Trali, gathered at Exhibition Road in the afternoon and started marching towards the secretariat, where offices of the chief minister, his cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats are located.
Police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel in riot gear used coloured water canons to disperse the protesters who refused to relent despite heavy deployment of security forces in the area.
“We want justice. Down with police high-handedness,” the employees shouted as around a dozen of them were whisked away in police vehicles to stop the march.
The employees are demanding raising of their retirement age from 58 to 60, regularisation of daily wage, ad hoc and contractual employees and removal of pay anomalies.
The employees say the government accepted their demands through an agreement signed Sept 15, 2011, but is now backing out.
The government says it is considering the demands and has asked the employees to shun the path of agitation.