RABINARAYAN JENA, OP
Bhubaneswar: More than 50,000 outsourced employees engaged through various service providers in the state will no longer be counted as ‘manpower’ under a new Finance department policy. Instead, their services will be measured in terms of ‘manhours’, as they are engaged on an hourly basis.
The policy, introduced by the Finance department, also bars the creation of new outsourcing posts in government departments. Departments have been asked to initiate the process of phasing out existing outsourced positions, triggering concern among employees, according to the state outsourcing employees’ association. In a letter to the Labour Commissioner September 24, Labour department Deputy Secretary Piyush Ranjan Parida stated that no new posts would be created for outsourcing services.
Engagement would be based on man-hours rather than manpower. The letter also directed departments to enter into comprehensive service agreements with service-provider agencies to prevent any future claims for regularisation. The scope of outsourced work should also be clearly defined. For instance, in the case of cleaning services, the request for proposal (RFP) should specify the total area, number of rooms and number of officers or employees, among other details, to enable participating agencies to assess the requirement accurately. The contract period will be limited to two years, with an extension of one year possible if the agency’s performance is satisfactory. Under no circumstances can the contract exceed three years.
Departments have also been directed to invite tenders in advance to select a new agency before the existing contract expires. The procuring entity will not issue identity cards to outsourcing employees. If required, the service-provider agency may issue identity cards to its employees. The new policy has assumed significance as the government has reportedly been unable to provide a consolidated figure on the number of outsourced employees working across departments and districts.
During the Monsoon Session of the Assembly, MLA Pratap Keshari Deb had asked how many outsourcing employees were engaged from the district level to the Secretariat and how many had been retrenched. In his reply, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said outsourcing personnel were temporarily engaged by service providers through the tender process. As they were not classified as government employees, the government did not maintain their data. He said 137 outsourcing employees were engaged under the General Administration department.
Similarly, in response to a question by MLA Bhaskar Madhei, Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling said more than 50 agencies were working as service providers across 30 districts. This has raised questions over how more than 50 service-provider agencies could be operating in the department when the government has data on only 137 outsourcing employees under the General Administration department.
State Outsourcing Association president Sanjay Kumar Patnaik alleged that instead of fulfilling the promises made to outsourcing employees, the BJP government was retrenching them. “More than 50,000 outsourcing employees are working in the state, while retrenchment is being carried out even in the Secretariat,” Patnaik said. He alleged that employees who had performed important government functions for nearly 15 years were now being removed arbitrarily, leading to growing resentment among the workforce.
