PULWAMA: Employees of State Forest Development Corporation Kashmir on Saturday staged a protest here in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The protesting employees were demanding pending salary, implementation of 7th pay commission recommendations and benefits of equal DA(Dearness Allowance).
Around a hundred employees of Pir Panchaal Range under the banner All Jammu and Kashmir Forest Corporation Employees Union assembled outside the office building of Divisional Manager of state Forest development Corporation, East division, in Pulwama town.They raised slogans for release of their three months pending salary.
Bashir Ahmad Bhat, President Forest Corporation Employees union told Kashmir Reader they are in March that the government with a single stroke of pen changed a profit generating state forest corporation to state forest development corporation due to which their monthly salaries were not paid from the beginning of April. ” The central government approved a grant in aid of rupees 230 crore for the corporation but LG administration failed to release the aid, ” he said, adding that they fail to understand as to why LG administration is not releasing the grant in aid and why their salaries are not paid despite generating huge revenue. “In the past two months only, the state forest development corporation registered a profit of rupees 25 crore,” he said. The protesting employees appealed to LG administration to redress their genuine demand of releasing their pending salaries.
” The pandemic has badly affected earnings of all sections of people and due to non payment of monthly salaries for the past three months our families are on the brink of starvation,” the employees said. The employees told Kashmir Reader that despite pandemic of COVID -19 they do their duties honestly facing all risks but LG administration is not valuing their dedication.
“The successive governments didn’t approve 7th pay recommendations in our favour and we also get 39 per cent less DA as compared to employees of other departments of the same nature, ” Mehraj Ud Din Malik, a protesting employee said. The protesting employees demanded LG of Jammu and Kashmir to intervene in the matter and instruct concerned authorities to release their pending salaries of the past three month.
The employees union announced a protest on July 22 in Srinagar.

BILAL HABIB