Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) employees from Central Kashmir’s Budgam district Saturday staged a protest against what they termed as “highly condemnable” statement by Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Abdul Haq in the just concluded state assembly session.The protesters who assembled at District Headquarter said that the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Abdul Haq has gravely hurt the sentiments of the staff working under MGNREGA by lying in the state legislative assembly about the nature of their employment and that travelling allowance, compensatory allowance or border allowance is paid to them.The protesters demanded that government should frame a job policy for their regularization.“If our demands are not full filled within 8 days, we will intensify our protest,” they said and contended the minister’s claims that the members of staff are not the government employees’, underlining that they were engaged after selection by district selection board framed by state’s Rural Development Department.“No TA, CA and border allowance is paid to any employee except programme officers and the statement of the minister is absolutely wrong. Let him give proof where he has given TA, CA or border allowance to engineering, GRS staff etc,” the protesters said. (CNS)