DF govt may go in for contractual employment

DF govt may go in for contractual employment
SHAILESH GAIKWAD

Mumbai, March1: The cash-strapped Democratic Front government is seriously considering a proposal to recruit employees on a contract basis in its establishments.

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The proposal was discussed at length at a meeting called by Principal Secretary (Finance) Anupam Dasgupta last week. It was attended by law and judiciary secretary A S Dongaonkar and officials of labour, industry and finance departments.

The move is part of the DF government's drive to reduce heavy expenditure incurred on administration. According to the Finance Department officials, the government is spending over 60 per cent of its revenue on its employees following the steep rise in their payments due to fifth pay panel. This was the main reason why it did not fill the posts lying vacant for the last few years. Since employing permanent employees puts heavy and recurring financial burden on it, the government is now veering round to the idea of recruiting the staff on contractual basis.

In fact, this is not the first time the contract system is being adopted by the government. It has already recruited `Shikshan Sevaks' (education servants) in school education department instead of regular teachers and drivers and conductors on contract in the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). The salaries being paid to these contractual employees are between Rs 2500 to Rs 4000 per month - much less compared to their permanent counterparts in the same departments.

Sources said the finance department has reacted positively tog the idea. It is planning to make provisions for payments of contractual employees in the annual budget to be presented before the legislature in the third week of March.

In the meeting, the officers also discussed the legal aspects of the proposal. The government is yet to decide whether or not to appoint the employees under the Contract Labour Act or any other law. It wants to make sure that the casual employees do not stake their claim for permanent jobs.

Also, the officers opined that the contractual employees should be kept away from the posts where the staff can have access to classified information. Since they would be free from any obligation after the expiry of the contract, the government cannot take chances with them. This means, positionswhich have access to such documents cannot be filled with contractual employees.

The proposal is likely to be cleared before the budget is presented to the state legislature, sources said.