As the Jammu and Kashmir government moves to finalize a framework for the regularization of nearly 97,000 casual and temporary workers, it confronts a problem that is as old as modern J&K politics itself — a problem largely of its own making. The National Conference (NC), which today leads the administration, must now face the consequences of a system that took root under its watch more than three decades ago.
The practice of engaging daily-rated and casual workers began in the early 1990s, when political leaders — across the spectrum but most visibly under National Conference governments — resorted to ad-hoc hiring to reward loyalty or appease local demands. What started as a temporary measure soon became institutionalized patronage. Many were recruited informally, often with the promise of future regularization — promises that successive governments repeated but rarely fulfilled.
In 1994, during the tenure of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the government issued SRO-64, formally titled the Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work Charged Employees (Regularisation) Rules, 1994. Though introduced under Governor’s rule, it was the NC-led government that later owned and implemented it. The policy was intended to bring order to the chaotic system of casual engagements. Instead, it legitimized a parallel workforce structure that kept expanding through political indulgence. Each subsequent administration — including later NC and PDP governments — continued to make fresh engagements despite official bans.
Today, more than 97,000 workers remain in uncertainty — registered through Aadhaar-based profiling but still awaiting clarity on their future. The March 2025 committee, set up to examine the humanitarian, legal, and financial aspects of their regularization, is the latest attempt to clean up this decades-old mess. But the question remains: will the current National Conference-led government finally confront the roots of this irregularity, or merely continue the cycle of delay and appeasement?
The responsibility cannot be evaded. The NC, having presided over the birth of this system in the 1990s and now being in power again, owes these workers more than sympathy — it owes them resolution. The government must demonstrate political courage by enforcing a transparent, phased, and fiscally viable regularization plan that permanently ends ad-hocism. It must also ensure that future recruitments strictly follow merit and sanction, closing the doors on political patronage once and for all.
For decades, these workers have sustained essential services without the dignity of job security. The National Conference government now has the rare opportunity to correct its own legacy. If it succeeds, it will mark a new era of administrative responsibility. If it fails, it will simply prove that history — in Jammu and Kashmir — keeps repeating itself.
