Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], August 31 (ANI): Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, the State Government has ended the role of contractors and middlemen in the decades-old contractual employment system and replaced a system "marked by middlemen, commissions, exploitation and lack of transparency with a transparent, accountable and employee-centric framework".
He alleged that under the earlier contractor-based arrangement, young employees were subjected to large-scale exploitation.
Employees often did not receive their full wages, with contractors making deductions. In some cases, employees were paid for only 11 months instead of 12 on the pretext of renewal of their engagement.
The government has eliminated the role of contractors and middlemen and linked the system with rules, merit and social security, he said.
The Chief Minister was speaking in the Vidhan Sabha during a discussion on a Calling Attention Motion concerning the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam.
According to a release, the Chief Minister said that while the Opposition is viewing the issue through the prism of political charges and counter-charges, the government looks at it from the perspective of the interests of the State's youth, employees and their families.
He alleged that the Opposition is indulging in politics by presenting only incomplete pages of history.
"Once the complete record is placed before the House, it will become clear that the temporary and contractual employment system was not introduced by the present government. What the government has done is to eliminate contractors, middlemen, commissions, exploitation and opacity from the system and make it transparent, accountable and employee-centric," he said.
The Chief Minister said the Opposition "is ahead of everyone when it comes to speaking falsehoods and creating confusion".
"They spread lies faster than the wind. The people of the State are watching everything and clearly understand the difference between truth and falsehood."
The Chief Minister said that the initial figures from 1967, soon after the formation of Haryana, present a clear picture of how the State's employment structure evolved over the decades. As of March 31, 1967, the Haryana Government had a total of 97,385 employees, including 11,397 in the combined category of contingency-paid, work-charged and contractual employees. Thus, in Haryana's initial administrative structure, nearly 88 per cent of employees belonged to the main Class-I to Class-IV categories, while around 12 per cent were in the combined category of contingency-paid, work-charged and contractual employees.
He said that by 2013, the number of Class-I to Class-IV employees had increased to 2,55,319, while the combined category of contingency-paid, work-charged and contractual employees had risen to 84,642. Compared to 1967, this represented an increase of 73,245 employees in the combined category, taking its strength to nearly 7.4 times the 1967 level.
The Chief Minister said that the number of contractual employees crossing one lakh by 2014 itself demonstrates that a sizeable temporary employment structure had developed over the decades alongside the regular administrative establishment. The purpose of placing these historical figures before the House, he said, is to make it clear that temporary employment did not originate with the formation of the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam. Such an arrangement had existed for decades and continued to expand under successive governments.
He said the Opposition is trying to create an impression that contractual employment began with the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, "whereas official records available since 1967 completely contradict this propaganda".
The Chief Minister said important measures have also been taken to safeguard the interests of women employees. Under the earlier contractor-based system, there was no uniform, clear and institutional framework governing maternity leave and other leave benefits for women contractual employees. They had to depend upon contractors even for availing their statutory benefits.
He said that following the establishment of the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, maternity leave has been ensured for eligible women contractual employees. In addition, there is provision for 10 days of medical leave and 10 days of casual leave in a calendar year. Women employees are now being provided the benefit of 22 days of casual leave. (ANI)
BJP government has ended contractor-middlemen system, provided people transparent employment framework: Haryana CM
