Code lifted, regularization process of temp workers resumes HUNDREDS OF UNEMPLOYMENT CARDS ALREADY RETURNED - RANJIT SINGH

GANGTOK, 27 May: Whispers alleging that the government had suspended the regularization process of temporary employees appear to, like most whisper campaigns are wont to be, unfounded. When contacted, officials at the Department of Personnel confirmed that the process is well and duly underway now that the model code of conduct has been lifted.

DoP Secretary, AK Chettri, stated that further process of regularization of the approved list of muster roll and work charged employees was now the responsibility of the respective departments with whom such employees are engaged.

“The process had been temporarily suspended due to the model code of conduct; now that the code of conduct is no longer in operation, the regularization process has resumed and the respective departments will now resume the issuing of relevant orders for their temporary employees”, he detailed.

In fact unemployment cards of those temporary employees who have already been regularized have already started coming in. From the Power Department itself about 500 unemployment cards from the temporary employees who have now been regularized have been received.

The Power Department has the highest number of employees on muster roll and work charged. An updated list of returned unemployment cards is not available as many regularized workers have been submitting their cards to BDOs and SDMs in the districts. However it is informed that several hundred of such unemployment cards have been received.

Temporary employees are not considered as employed and so are issued unemployment cards by the government. Once they are absorbed into regular service they are considered employed and so have to return their unemployment cards.

On the other hand it is believed that it would take much more time for the entire lot of approved temporary employees to be regularized and absorbed into service. The pace of regularization, it is informed, depends solely on the particular departments.

In the first phase a total of 4,002 MR and WC employees had been approved for regularization who had put in 15 or more years of service. The financial implication was Rs. 79 crore per year. In the second phase another 1,533 temporary workers were approved for regularization which had put in 10 or more years of service with financial implication of Rs. 24.69 crores annually. Next in line are temporary employees with five and more years of service.