Srinagar, Oct. 16 -- A framework has now been set in motion to address the status of thousands of workers in urban local bodies across Jammu and Kashmir. The sanction to adopt municipal service regulations is more like a structural intervention aimed at defining how casual labourers, contingent-paid staff, and consolidated workers will be considered for regularisation. For years, these employees have remained outside the ambit of secure employment despite being integral to the functioning of municipal systems. The new order signals a shift toward codifying their place within the institutional framework.

By extending the provisions of existing municipal regulations to all urban local bodies, the administration has chosen continuity over e...