Srinagar, Oct 2: A vocational trainer protesting over the absence of a comprehensive job policy and months of unpaid salaries died of a heart attack in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday morning, as the agitation by vocational trainers entered its ninth day, the union said.
The deceased, Bashir Ahmed Gojri, was an agriculture trade trainer in Kupwara working under Labour Net Company. According to the Vocational Trainers Union UT J&K, Gojri had participated in the protest for the first three days before his health deteriorated. The union alleged that he had been under severe mental stress over the non-payment of his salary for the past five to six months.
Gojri is survived by his wife, three children, his sister and elderly parents. The union said he was the sole earning member of his family.
Speaking to Kashmir Convener, Lone Jeelani, UT president of the union, said Gojri had been working as a vocational trainer since 2018 and had not received his salary for five to six months.
“He was mentally harassed by the company. He was the only one earning at home. He was in a lot of trauma and frustration,” Jeelani said.
Gojri had participated in the protest for its first three days before his health deteriorated, according to the union.
“He was asking the VTs to give him a loan. He was so frustrated. Today, he had a heart attack in the morning,” Jeelani said, adding that Gojri was not alone in his distress. “Everyone is frustrated.”
Jeelani said the trainers have been surviving on a salary of Rs 20,000, which has not been disbursed for six months, pushing them into debt and depression.
“Our VTs are suffering from stress, anxiety and depression. They told me, ‘Jeelani, I do not have money to pay the electricity bill, I do not have money for my parents’ medicines, I do not have money for my children. The shopkeeper tells me every day, you have so much debt, at least pay this’,” he said.
The union has been demanding a comprehensive job policy to address their long-pending employment concerns, alleging that they have been waiting for a permanent solution for over a decade.
Jeelani said that during the recently held autumn session of the J&K Legislative Assembly, several political leaders assured the union that their problems would be addressed.
He also claimed that the Commissioner Secretary of the Education Department, J&K, had in 2025 issued an order directing Directors and Chief Education Officers to submit a report on the working of 18 outsourcing companies.
The report, he said, took one-and-a-half years to compile, and all CEOs concluded that the role of these companies was a “complete failure.”
“They wrote that the companies did not do anything. So, first of all, you should remove the companies and directly induct the teachers into the department, the way it was done in other states like Assam and Haryana,” Jeelani said.
He added that the reports also recommended a salary hike, an allowance and a policy in line with the National Education Policy 2020.
“It is incomplete until you focus on the teachers,” he said.
Jeelani said the file is now with the Commissioner Secretary, but the administration has not given the union any “cheque” — only assurances of time.
“When we came to the road on the first day, they called me and asked me to give them time. They called me on the second day as well. I told them it is already 11 o’clock, how much more time do you need? As time passed, our VTB also passed, but their time did not pass,” he said.
Jeelani said the union’s demand now is the implementation of the recommendations already on file.
“We do not want that, God forbid, someone else should come. They already have the recommendations. They should be implemented. If it is implemented, then we will be free from this outsourcing system, and the Rs 12 to 15 crore that they give to the companies will be saved by the government. We will also be saved. We will get job security from that, and the humiliation, stress, etc., will also end at least,” he said.
There are presently 2,187 vocational trainers across Jammu and Kashmir, according to the union.
Jeelani also alleged that some female VTs had already resigned during the protest, including one in Gurez who had been working for 11 years without a transfer.
“She resigned because her children were suffering, her family was suffering. In some other districts, many of them have resigned. Some things are not being highlighted,” he said.
He further alleged that the outsourcing companies had emailed the teachers, warning them of termination if they continued to protest.
“They have emailed the teachers that if you continue on the roads, we will terminate you. Rejoin the school immediately. Look at the situation. Already, the employees of the government, the directors of the government, have written a report against those companies to remove them. And now the companies are telling us that they will remove you from the roads. Look at the level,” Jeelani said.
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