Srinagar, Oct 24 (HS): National Conference (NC) leader and chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq on Saturday urged Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to submit before October 31 the report on regularisation of daily wagers, so that the file can be sent to the chief minister and the party’s promise to the people can be fulfilled.

Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Sadiq said there is still time and he wished to appeal again to the Chief Secretary, whom he called a “son of the soil”. “If you want to do something for yourself, for your prosperity, for your people, then there is a chance. The regularisation file should be sent to the chief minister before the 31st, so that we can fulfil the promise we have made,” he said.

Sadiq said the government had asked for a six-month report on the daily wagers, but the Chief Secretary has not submitted it yet. “History will always look at you, at what you have done for your people,” he said. He added that if the workers take to the streets, responsibility will lie with those who have not brought back the report.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had announced in March 2025 a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to frame a roadmap for the regularisation of daily wagers. The other members are the Additional Chief Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office and the Secretaries of the Planning and Law departments. The committee was to ascertain the number of daily wagers and the legal and financial implications, so that the process could begin in the next budget, and to submit its report in six months.

Asked about the cabinet expansion and his own possible induction, Sadiq said he had not heard what the chief minister had said, as he was in a meeting. He said it is the chief minister’s prerogative whom to take, when and why, and that the chief minister knows this, as does the party president.

“I will not talk about it, nor do I have the mandate to talk about it. The chief minister has promised that he will do the expansion, and he will definitely do it,” Sadiq said. He added that there were other reasons too, such as the Lieutenant Governor having been unwell, but the expansion would be done.

Omar Abdullah said earlier on Saturday, after meeting Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, that he had sought time from the LG in the first two to three days of next week for the expansion of his Council of Ministers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Zahoor Hussain Bhat