Hakeem Muhammad Yaseen Demands SRO-43 Benefits for Daily Wagers
Calls Denial of Social Security Inhuman
26/10/2026
Srinagar, October 26 (KIP)- Hakeem Muhammad Yaseen, President of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) and former minister, on Tuesday strongly demanded social security, job protection and SRO-43-related benefits for eligible daily wagers, ad hoc employees and casual labourers, terming their continued neglect by the government inhuman and unjust.
Yaseen said thousands of daily wagers have been serving government departments for years without regularisation, adequate job security or social protection, leaving their families in prolonged uncertainty. He urged the government to formulate a comprehensive policy to safeguard their livelihoods and provide them with the security they deserve.
“Daily wagers are also human beings. They have families to feed, children to educate and responsibilities to fulfil. Keeping them without job security and adequate social protection despite years of service is inhuman and unjust. The government must ensure that eligible workers receive SRO-43-related benefits under applicable rules,” Yaseen said.
Questioning the disparity in social security provisions, he said government employees had been covered under a health insurance scheme involving ₹1 crore in coverage, while thousands of daily wagers continued to work without comparable financial security or adequate protection against unforeseen circumstances.
“These workers also deserve dignity, health protection and a secure future for their families. The government cannot continue to ignore their hardships while they struggle to make ends meet despite years of service,” he said.
Yaseen demanded that the government examine the applicability of SRO-43 provisions to eligible workers and introduce appropriate social security measures for other categories of daily wagers. He stressed that regularisation, health insurance and employment security must be addressed through a clear and time-bound policy.
Criticising the formation of another committee to examine regularisation, Yaseen said repeated committees had failed to deliver tangible results. He said successive governments, including those led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Ghulam Nabi Azad and the National Conference, had failed to resolve the long-pending issue.
“The government already has the data of these workers. What is the point of forming committee after committee when thousands of families continue to suffer? The administration must move beyond paperwork and take decisive action,” he said.
Yaseen also criticised the previous PDP-BJP coalition government for failing to fulfil its commitments regarding daily wagers despite references to the issue in budget documents from 2015 to 2018.
He urged the Omar Abdullah-led government to move beyond announcements and ensure a time-bound roadmap for regularisation, SRO-43-related benefits for eligible workers, health protection and social security, saying these workers should not be left to struggle indefinitely without certainty about their future.