Sops for different sections of society continue in Madhya Pradesh in the election year. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the end of the yearly renewal system for contract government employees and a string of job-related benefits for them.
Speaking at a convention of the contract employees in Bhopal, the chief minister praised the contributions of the contract employees working in key departments, saying they worked shoulder to shoulder with regular employees and sometimes contribute more than regular employees. Hence, it was unfair to keep the sword of yearly renewal hanging on their heads, he observed.
Chouhan said government employees are the foundation stone in the structure of progress of Madhya Pradesh.
Announcing the list of benefits, he said the contract employees will be given the benefit of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and will be offered benefits under the health insurance scheme like regular employees, and their wards will be eligible for employment on compassionate grounds (in case of death of an employee). Also, the policy of offering starting pay at 90 per cent of the basic pay of equivalent regular employees will be discontinued and employees will get starting salaries at 100 per cent (of the basic pay), the CM said.
The CM further said contract employees will also get gratuity at retirement, and 50 per cent of the appointments on regular posts will be reserved for them. These employees will also get leaves on par with regular employees—female employees will get the full benefits of maternity leaves.
Chouhan said the government and the employees have been at loggerheads sometimes (due to pending demands of the employees), but the salaries of some of the employees deducted for the agitation periods will be refunded and the police cases against them will be retracted.
Regularisation demand remains unfulfilled
These announcements are likely to benefit about one lakh contract employees in various state government departments who have been holding occasional agitation for their demands. The contract appointment system in government departments started as early as 1992, but became almost a norm in recent years.
However, the main demand of the contract employees—regularisation of their services— remains unfulfilled and they will continue to press for this demand, president of the Madhya Pradesh Samvida Adhikari Karmachari Sangh, Ramesh Rathore told THE WEEK. He said they are happy to accept the announcements made by the chief minister, but unless they are regularised they will continue to get the same salary and benefits at day one of the job even 20 years into service. Therefore, the main demand for regularisation stands, he added.
Registration for 'earn and learn' scheme starts
Meanwhile, the registration of unemployed youth for the 'CM Earn and Learn Scheme' (Sikho Kamao Yojana)—a job-based skill training programme—began on Wednesday. The chief minister launched the official portal and mobile app for registration under the scheme at a programme held in Bhopal.
Speaking on the occasion, he said on August 15, 2022, he had announced the recruitment to one lakh government posts within a year. “Today I am happy to inform you that recruitment has been done on 55,000 posts and the remaining posts will be filled by August 15,” Chouhan said.
Under the scheme, eligible youth will be placed as trainees with selected establishments and get a fixed stipend during the training period of a year. Trainees who have passed Class XII will be given a monthly stipend of Rs 8,000, ITI passed – Rs 8,500, diploma passed – Rs 9,000 and graduate or higher qualified trainees will get stipends of Rs 10,000 per month. The state government will pay 75 per cent of the stipend to the beneficiaries directly, while the establishments concerned will have to deposit the other 25 per cent to the bank accounts of the trainees. The 703 work areas identified for training include the manufacturing sector, engineering, electrical, mechanical, civil, management, marketing, hotel management, tourism, travel, hospital, railway, IT sector, software development, banking, insurance, accountancy, chartered accountant and other financial services.