Standing Committee Discussion Points S.No.29 – Regularise the services of casual labourers

Standing Committee Discussion Points S.No.29 – Regularise the services of casual labourers

S. No. 29 – Regularise the services of casual labourers by absorbing them against vacant posts of MTS as one time measure.

Establishment Division had through their letter dated 10.01.2016 clarified that no such proposal from Ministry of Defence was pending with DoPT and no scheme on the lines of the scheme of 1993 was under consideration. It has been further stated that the judgment of the Constitution Bench in the Uma Devi case bars any regularisation of individuals not selected through a prescribed selection procedure. Therefore, only those casual labours may be regularised who are covered under the 1993 scheme.

Staff-Side stated that while the Uma Devi judgment is clear and the instructions have-been-issued by DoPT, there are cases where the casual labourers have not completed 10 years on the date of judgement. The Staff-Side said that the recruitment procedure adopted while engaging the daily rated workers was one and the same for regular employment especially those kept for erstwhile Group-D functions. Therefore, they cannot be said to be backdoor entrants. This apart, they added that such recruitment on purely temporary basis was necessitated and initiated due to the all pervading ban imposed by DoPT in 2001 and continued for almost nine years. Therefore, they said that it is necessary that the DoPT should prepare a scheme by which the quality of employment is maintained as also regularization of persons who have served the government for such long period of time does take place.

They also added that these appointments were against regular and permanent vacancies and the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Uma Devi does not debar the government from considering regularization of such cases. As they were working in Government establishments, their condition needs to be appreciated.

JS(E) stated that Establishment Division would look into this matter in view of the position explained by the Staff-Side.

{Action: Establishment Division (DoPT)}