- विज्ञापन -
Himachal: In Himachal Pradesh, employees will not receive seniority and financial benefits for their contract service tenure. This arrangement is set to be implemented from 2003 onwards. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Sukhu Singh Sukhvinder tabled the Himachal Pradesh Government Employee Recruitment and Service Conditions Bill in the assembly. The bill is expected to be discussed and passed on Thursday.
The primary concern behind introducing this bill is the potential financial burden on the state. Granting benefits from the contract service would require a significant allocation of additional resources and necessitate amendments to the seniority list that has been in place for over 21 years.
The Congress government in the state is set to make critical changes regarding employees through this bill. Once passed, employees will not receive seniority and financial benefits based on their joining dates. Instead, their seniority will now be determined only after they become permanent employees, excluding the contract service tenure. This change particularly affects those employees whose seniority was previously ordered by the courts, which could have increased the financial burden on the state’s treasury.
According to the bill, its aim is to establish harmony between the interests of regular government employees and those appointed on a contract basis. The Chief Minister clarified that this bill derives its authority from Article 309 of the Constitution of India, which governs the recruitment and service conditions of public employees. Contract appointments began in Himachal in 2003, with clear mentions of service conditions in the appointment letters. Employees were informed that their contract tenure would not count for seniority or other benefits received by regular employees.
Despite this, incorporating contract appointments into recruitment and promotion rules created the impression that such appointments were equivalent to regular employment. According to the bill, the purpose of contract appointments was never to equate them with regular employees. Their service conditions are governed by agreements signed by them, so they are not part of public services equivalent to regular appointments.
High-ranking government officials noted that several employees were granted seniority benefits for contract service through the courts, with such cases being filed daily. This prompted the government to introduce the bill to end this practice. The case of Taj Mohammad vs. Lekhraj has further complicated the government’s situation. Once the bill is passed, it will eliminate the need to grant seniority and financial benefits based on contract service tenure.
