Punjab govt to regularise 27,000 employees

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 25

The election-bound Punjab Government today decided to regularise the services of 27,000 contractual, ad hoc, daily-wage and temporary employees. 

The state Cabinet also decided to convert 15,000 employees working on jobs outsourced to private companies into contractual employees. During the fag-end of its last tenure (2007-12) too, the SAD-BJP government had regularised the services of 45,000 employees. 

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"The decision will also impact thousands of employees working on contract through private outsourcing agencies or contractors, as they will now become contract employees of the state government. This decision comes into force with immediate effect," a state government spokesperson said.

While the services of 11,000 employees in the Education Department are being regularised with immediate effect, the government will be absorbing 7,000 employees in the Health Department, 4,000 in the Department of Local Government, 1,000 in the Medical Education Department and 4,000 in other departments. The pay of these employees will be protected in case they are drawing more than the basic pay. Those drawing less will get the basic pay for the initial three years. 

Sources said for the initial three years, the state government would have to bear a liability of Rs 188 crore per annum. Once these employees start getting emoluments, the burden would rise by Rs 2,000 crore per annum. 

Already, 57 per cent of Punjab’s own revenue or 40 per cent of the state’s total revenue receipts are going towards payment of salaries and wages of employees. This is besides the Rs 7,767.65 crore that the state spends towards pension and other retirement benefits.  

With this decision, the SAD-BJP alliance hopes to garner a substantial number of votes. However, the move could boomerang as contractual employees’ unions have been demanding regular jobs for 1.30 lakh workers, most of whom have been left out. 

The Cabinet also decided that cases of employment on compassionate grounds would be disposed of in three weeks and the backlog of posts in the reserved categories  (SCs/STs, OBCs and physically handicapped) filled through a special recruitment drive.