Pvt firm ‘unwilling’ to continue outsourcing deal, Rohtak varsity to transition staff to Rozgar Nigam

In a significant development amid the ongoing strike by outsourced employees at Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak (UHSR), the private firm supplying manpower to the institution has formally expressed its unwillingness to continue the engagement. This was revealed by Vice-Chancellor Dr HK Aggarwal during his first official media interaction on the matter, held on Friday.

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“The legal hurdle in transitioning outsourced employees to the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN) has been resolved. The contractor has informed the university that he can no longer continue the contract. As a result, the university is now free to transfer these employees to HKRN,” Dr Aggarwal stated, adding that the transition process is already underway and is expected to be completed within a week.

Interestingly, Dr Aggarwal also confirmed a recent report published by The Tribune, which revealed that the university stands to save over Rs 41 lakh annually by shifting its outsourced workforce to HKRN.

Currently, UHSR employs 1,271 outsourced staff members, including 962 bearers, 55 data entry operators and 254 personnel in various other roles. These workers are hired through a private outsourcing agency, with their wages paid by the university via the contractor.

According to official data, the university currently pays Rs 3,19,58,211 per month in wages. Under the HKRN model, this figure would reduce to Rs 3,16,13,083 — yielding a monthly saving of Rs 3,45,128 and an annual saving of Rs 41,41,536.

“These employees have served the university for several years. With the Department of Medical Education and Research having cleared the file for their transfer, it has now been sent to the Finance Department. Since there is no additional financial burden, the Finance Department’s approval is expected soon,” said Dr Aggarwal. Despite the reassurances, a section of the outsourced employees continues their strike, which entered its fifth day on Friday. “We’ve already shared these details with the protesting employees. Their current wages are already aligned with HKRN standards. Now, they should end their strike and await the formal transition,” urged the Vice-Chancellor.

However, the striking workers remain skeptical. “We won’t end our strike until we are actually shifted to HKRN,” they said. “Similar assurances were made during our January strike, but nothing happened. We called off our protest back then, trusting the administration, but the promise remains unfulfilled,” they added.