Sukhbir S Badal visits bereaved families of the Mathura boat tragedy (Asserts life jackets should be made mandatory for all boat travels, including pilgrimages) Ludhiana/Jagraon 16 April ( PDL ) : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today visited the bereaved families of the Mathura boat tragedy in this city and at Jagraon and shared their grief. The SAD president while interacting with the Gulati family in the Urban Estate at Dugri said it was heart rending that so many youngsters had been drowned in the boat tragedy because of lack of adequate safety arrangements. He said he would raise the issue at all appropriate forums to ensure that life jackets were made mandatory while undertaking any such boat journies. “Life jackets should be made an absolute must on all boat travel, including religious pilgrimage”. He interacted with the family members of deceased Rakesh Gulati, his wife Anju Gulati, Meenu Bansal and her daughter Dinky Bansal on the occas...
Contractual and Outsourcing Employees Demand One-Time Regularization and Job Security from Ministry of Home Affairs and Administrator
Contractual and Outsourcing Employees Demand One-Time Regularization and Job Security from Ministry of Home Affairs and Administrator
Chandigarh 14 April ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : The All Contractual Karamchari Sangh Bharat (Regd.), U.T. Chandigarh, has strongly urged the Union Minister of Home Affairs and Administrator to immediately formulate a Central Policy for the one-time regularization of thousands of contractual employees and strongly demanded the immediate replacement of the exploitative GeM Portal system with a centralized, transparent agency modeled on Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN) for the engagement of approximately 17,000 outsourcing workers in various departments of the Chandigarh Administration and Municipal Corporation,U.T., Chandigarh. These employees were engaged on sanctioned posts after undergoing proper selection procedures (written tests/interviews), yet they have been serving for decades—many for 10 to 20+ years—under repeated short-term contracts without job security, pension, or other regular benefits.
In a detailed representation sent today to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Home Affairs and Administrator, the Sangh highlighted the constitutional anomaly arising from the mixed application of Punjab Service Rules and Central rules in Chandigarh (UT), which has led to inconsistent practices and forced repeated litigation. Citing the landmark Supreme Court judgment in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (2006), the Sangh pointed out the Court’s explicit humanitarian exception for irregular (not illegal) appointments made against sanctioned posts through proper process with long continuous service. The representation also referenced recent Supreme Court judgments (including Bhola Nath v. State of Jharkhand, 2026, and Dharam Singh v. State of U.P., 2025) that have strongly deprecated prolonged contractualization of perennial posts and directed regularization with consequential benefits.
The Sangh noted that while neighbouring states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and others have framed policies or implemented court-directed regularizations, Chandigarh Administration continues to cite the absence of Central guidelines, leaving employees in perpetual uncertainty. In a representation, the union also highlighted that the current GeM-based outsourcing model, operational since 2018, has led to widespread exploitation of long-serving workers (many with 10–20 years of service). Key issues include frequent changes in private contractors, delayed salaries, non-payment of EPF/ESI and other benefits, illegal demands for commissions, and sudden terminations causing loss of livelihood.
The union stated that this system violates the principles of “equal pay for equal work”, social security, and security of tenure, which are now reinforced under the four new Labour Codes made effective from 21st November 2025. In contrast, Haryana’s HKRN model has successfully provided timely wages, mandatory social security benefits, reduced contractor interference, and significant job security (including provisions for tenure up to superannuation for eligible long-serving workers under the Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Service) Act, 2024). The model has benefited over 1.2 lakh workers while proving more cost-effective for the government due to lower service charges and reduced hidden costs.
The union demanded the formulation of a One Time Central Policy/Guidelines for regularization of eligible contractual employees as a model employer for those working on sanctioned posts with long service in Union Territories,especially Chandigarh. The union also urged the Ministry of Home Affairs and Administrator to direct the Chandigarh Administration to adopt a similar centralized HKRN -like mechanism to ensure equality, dignity of labour, full compliance with labour laws, and protection against discrimination and exploitation. The Sangh emphasized that timely intervention by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Administrator will uphold constitutional principles of equity and fairness, reduce unnecessary litigation, and recognize the dedicated service of these Contractual and Outsourcing employees who have been integral to public departments for decades.
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