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Ludhiana: Outsourced staff stage protest march, seek regular jobs
The protest began from the Verka Milk Plant on Ferozepur road and culminated at the residence of power minister Sanjeev Arora.
Outsourced and contractual employees from various government departments, under the banner of Thekha Mulazam Sangharsh Morcha Punjab, staged a protest march seeking job regularisation in Ludhiana on Thursday.
The protest began from the Verka Milk Plant on Ferozepur road and culminated at the residence of power minister Sanjeev Arora. The protesters, including daily wage workers, contract staff and those employed through enlistment agencies, are demanding that the government implement a policy to merge all outsourced employees into the respective departments and provide them with permanent employment.
Avtar Singh, West Circle head of union, said, “We have been serving in government departments for years under contract, outsource or contractor-based arrangements. Despite our long service and experience, we are still denied job security and benefits. The government’s proposed policies are discriminatory and include unnecessary conditions that exclude many deserving employees.”
Jagroop Singh, another leader, said, “We are not asking for anything beyond our due. Contract-based employees have been contributing effectively and their service record is unquestionable. Any policy that imposes tests or additional conditions to deny regularisation is unfair, and must be revoked.”
The protesters presented a detailed demand letter to the minister, highlighting several issues such as the need for direct integration into departments, minimum wage guarantees, annual increments, dearness allowance, medical benefits and pension security for retirees. They also demanded that the government adhere to labour law provisions and past labour conference recommendations to ensure fair treatment.
The protest also saw active participation from senior leaders of the Technical Service Union (TSU), including Ludhiana zone head Rajvinder Singh, circle head Tuk Bahadur and Aggar Nagar division head Shukhjinder Singh.
