Telangana State Outsourced Employees’ Joint Action Committee has requested the State Government to scrap the contract/outsourced employment system as the agencies have been exploiting the employees by taking a cut in the salaries paid to them. The JAC has also urged the government to regularise the outsourced employees in all departments.
At a meeting convened by the JAC here on Sunday, a large number of outsourced employees from across the State participated. JAC leaders P. Laxmaiah, K. Santosh, Vinod, Arun Kumar, Narayana and Bindu said the agencies were paying paltry wages once in three to four months and several outsourced employees had committed suicide due to the exploitation by the agencies. Sometimes, they were not paid wages even for a stretch of 6-7 months.
Stating that there were about 2.5 lakh outsourced and contract employees in the State, they requested the government to regularise at least those who had put in three years of service and implement pay scale and other benefits to them as they work on a par with regular employees. Seeking an ex gratia payment of ₹5 lakh to the families of outsourced employees who had committed suicide, the JAC leaders said an eligible member of their families be provided employment on compassionate grounds.
They pointed out that the State Government had also removed several outsourced employees from work recently to accommodate the village revenue assistants in several departments. They explained that unable to eke out a proper living with low wages and the agencies’ exploitation by taking a cut in the wages, several employees had ended lives.
The JAC leaders alleged that the services of outsourced staff were not being renewed for months together after the expiry of the contract period of the agencies. The amount of ESI, and PF for the period of delay in renewing the services was not being credited to the two organisations, denying the due benefits to the employees, they pointed out.
Further, they alleged that the agencies mostly run by politicians were removing several employees working for long indiscriminately and taking in new personnel by collecting bribe from them.
