E-Paper
Services of 35,000 Punjab group C and D employees to be regularised
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann asks chief secretary to prepare draft of bill to regularise services of employees before next assembly session
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday announced the regularisation of services of 35,000 group ‘C’ and ‘D’ contractual and outsourcing employees in government departments of the state.
Also read: In Punjab, Bhagat Singh death anniversary will now be a state holiday: CM Bhagwant Mann
In a video statement, Mann said he has directed chief secretary Anirudh Tewari to prepare the draft of a bill for regularising the services of these employees before the next session of the assembly. “We will approve the draft legislation in the assembly and regularise the employees engaged through contract and outsourcing,” he said, claiming it to be a “historic decision” of his government.
Don’t want lathicharge on protesters: Mann
Mann, who took oath the chief minister a week ago, said contractual and outsourcing employees have been holding protests for a long time for the regularisation of their services. “There was no chowk (intersection) or water tank where they were not holding protest. I do not want lathicharge or turbans or chunnis of protesting staff to fall off,” he said. The CM also said schools do not have teachers, while eligible teachers are protesting by climbing atop water tanks right outside these institutions for jobs. “No job creation is needed for this. We will do that too, but we have to first fill the existing jobs,” he said.
The state cabinet had on Saturday also decided to undertake recruitment for 25,000 government jobs in the state.
Channi govt also passed Bill for regularising services
Last year, the previous Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government had also decided to regularise the services of 36,000 employees working on contract, ad hoc, work charged, daily wages and temporary basis. The state government had passed the Punjab Protection and Regularisation of Contractual Employees Bill-2021, on November 11, and sent it for approval of governor Banwarilal Purohit.
The governor returned the bill to the Channi government on January 2 this year, raising six queries pertaining to pending court cases, reservation and funding. Channi had even threatened to sit on dharna outside the Raj Bhawan over the delay in approval.
