Haryana: Bill Ensuring Job Security to Contractual Employees Till Superannuation Passed in Assembly After Lengthy Discussion

Chandigarh, November 18: A Bill ensuring job security to contractual employees till the age of superannuation was passed by the Haryana assembly here on Monday after a lengthy discussion. The Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Service) Bill, 2024, seeks to provide the necessary security of service, improve service conditions of contractual employees and fulfil the government's commitment, thereby ensuring stability and continuity in the functioning of the government departments and the welfare of the long-serving contractual workforce.

The Bill replaces an ordinance promulgated in August this year. As per the Bill, the eligible contractual employee shall be the one who has been engaged on contract by the government organisation and is in the service of such organisation on the appointed date and receiving remuneration of Rs 50,000 per month or is deployed by the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN) under the Deployment of Contractual Persons Policy, 2022, and is in the service of a government organisation on the appointed date. Amid Protests, Punjab Guv Says No Land Allotted for Haryana Assembly in Chandigarh Yet.

The employee must have completed at least five years of service in the government organisation on a full-time basis as of the appointed date. The period of service shall be considered as the period for which remuneration was made, directly or indirectly, by the government organisation to the eligible contractual employee. Speaking during the discussion on the Bill, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the state government has decided to secure the services of 1.2 lakh employees engaged under the HKRN and outsourcing policy until their retirement and for this, the Bill has been passed.

He also said a separate Bill would be introduced to secure the services of the employees having a monthly salary above Rs 50,000 per month. Targeting the opposition Congress, Saini said during the erstwhile Congress government, employees engaged through outsourcing policy were exploited. Contractors did not pay full wages and any employee who raised their voice was terminated, causing distress to the employees, he added. He said the Bill has been brought "to rectify wrong policies of the erstwhile Congress government".

The BJP government, however, introduced systematic changes to correct these "flawed policies". As part of this effort, the government established the HKRN on April 1, 2022, the chief minister said. He said that the Nigam not only ensures complete transparency in the recruitment process but has also saved the employees working on an outsourcing basis from the exploitation of the contractors. The chief minister said that all contractual employees already working were ported into this system, and new deployment was also made with utmost transparency. Chandigarh Belongs to Punjab, Not an Inch of Land for Haryana: AAP Delegation to Governor Gulab Chand Kataria.

Saini said that the state government has set parameters under the Deployment of Contractual Policy, giving weightage based on unemployment in a household, age and skills. This initiative has helped youth from economically weaker families secure jobs, he said. During the discussion on the bill, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda alleged there is no transparency in HKRN. Hooda demanded that all the contractual employees be regularised. Congress member Geeta Bhukkal alleged a "bahut bada parchi, kharchi ka khel huva hain," as she levelled allegations of favouritism in the appointment of contractual employees made through the HKRN.

Congress MLA Aditya Surjewala said highly qualified youth were applying for petty jobs and claimed that the HKRN was not offering a real solution. Another Congress legislator, B B Batra, claimed that there is no transparency in the HKRN and no reservation policy, and sought the Bill be referred to a select committee of the House "to remove anomalies". Meanwhile, giving details regarding reservations being extended in the deployments made through the HKRN, the chief minister said that 28 per cent reservation was provided to Scheduled Castes, benefitting 37,404 youth.

Similarly, 32 per cent reservation was given to the Backward Classes, helping 41,376 youth to secure employment. Saini said that the state government will soon start the recruitment for two lakh regular posts too.

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