Chandigarh, July 17 -- The Class-4 employees of the UT education department staged a protest on Wednesday against the current contract system. The protest was led by Class Four Employees Union president Annu Kumar. He said that they are demanding the fulfillment of their long-pending demands pending for the past 16 years. The protest was held at the ground near Jama Masjid in Sector 20. Kumar stated that Group-D employees engaged in year-round tasks on DC rates and outsourcing contracts have not only been deprived of permanent employment but are also forced to live in extremely difficult financial conditions. He mentioned that multiple rounds of discussions have been held with the officials regarding these demands, but every time only verbal assurances were given with no concrete solutions. Ashok Kumar, president of the All Contractual Employees Federation of India, said that the DC rate is a temporary arrangement introduced during British rule in 1941 for a single day's wage. Applying this to year-round work is not in public interest. Union chairman Pal Singh and general secretary Joni Kumar demanded that direct DC rate and outsourced employees be paid basic +DA wages so that they can achieve minimum financial security. They also demanded four-hour duties for mid-day meal workers and half the DC rate salary accordingly. Other key demands included providing emergency medical services to all employees and granting gratuity to contractual workers retiring at the age of 60....