Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday announced that his government will introduce two Bills in the Punjab Assembly aimed at abolishing the contractual employment system in government departments and providing regular jobs to eligible employees.
Addressing a press conference after a Cabinet meeting, Mann said the proposed legislation would pave the way for the regularisation of thousands of contractual and outsourced workers across the state.
The Chief Minister said employees engaged in hazardous or high-risk duties, including firemen, sewerage workers and others performing dangerous jobs, would be eligible for regularisation after completing three years of service.
Once regularised, these employees will receive all benefits available to regular government staff, including service security and other statutory benefits.
Mann said the policy would be implemented across 51 government departments.
For employees working in non-hazardous categories, the government has proposed a minimum service requirement of five years for eligibility under the regularisation scheme.
According to the Chief Minister, around 18,000 employees are expected to benefit from the proposed legislation.
He said that after the Bills are passed by the Punjab Assembly, they will be sent to the Governor for assent. Following approval, the government will frame and implement the necessary legal provisions to extend the benefits to eligible contractual and outsourced employees.
Punjab Chief Secretary K.A.P. Sinha was also present during the press conference.
The announcement is being viewed as a major move by the Punjab Government towards addressing long-standing demands of contractual and outsourced employees seeking job security and regular government service status.
