Outsourced Jal Shakti Vibhag employees meet CM, want jobs restored

Shimla, September 13

Demanding reinstatement of their jobs, outsourced employees of Jal Shakti Vibhag staged a protest in front of DC office and carried out a march to Secretariat in Shimla on Wednesday. As many as 1571 employees were relieved of their services in December 2022 after expiry of their employment contracts.

The aggrieved employees met Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and submitted a memorandum of demands to him. The Chief Minister assured them that he would look into the matter and asked them to meet Deputy CM.

Rajesh Sharma, president of the Jal Shakti Vibhag Part-Time Outsourcing Workers’ Union, said, “We have been providing our services in the department for years but our services were never regularized by any government and we are forced to work on meagre salaries of Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per month.”

Along with being reinstated, we also demand a minimum hike of Rs 8,000 in our salaries, Sharma added. Supporting the employees, union leaders threatened to approach court if the government fails to act on the demands.