Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 25 : The Members of the Himachal Pradesh Joint Outsourced Employees Association on Tuesday staged a Vidhan Sabha Gherao protest at Chaura Maidan in Shimla, near the state Assembly, demanding job security, equal pay for equal work and financial assistance for families of outsourced employees who died or were disabled while in service.
Addressing the protesters, Association Convener Ashwani Sharma said outsourced employees had been working in various departments of the Himachal Pradesh government for the past 15 to 20 years but continued to face uncertainty over their employment.
"We have been working for the government for the last 15 to 20 years. Outsourced employees are working in almost every department of the Himachal government, but despite serving for so many years, we still do not have job security," Sharma said.
He demanded that outsourced employees be provided job security up to the age of 58 years, saying several employees who had served for years had been terminated from service.
Sharma also raised the demand for equal pay for equal work, pointing out that outsourced employees perform the same duties as regular government staff.
"When an outsourced driver is performing the same duties as a regular driver, and a T-mate, lineman or clerk is working like a regular employee, there should not be such a huge disparity in their salaries," he said.
According to Sharma, many outsourced workers currently receive only around Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,000 per month, which he said was inadequate to support families amid rising inflation, particularly for employees who have already worked for 15 to 20 years.
"If someone has worked for 15 or 20 years and is still receiving only Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,000, it is extremely unfortunate. This amount is not enough to run a family in today's inflationary conditions," he said.
The association also demanded adequate compensation for outsourced employees who died or became disabled while performing their duties, along with a government job for one eligible member of the affected family.
Sharma said the government had recently put the number of outsourced employees at around 27,000, but the association believed the actual figure was more than 30,000 across various government departments.
He said the employees had come to the Assembly to put their demands before the government and expected it to take concrete steps to address their concerns.
However, Sharma warned that the protest could intensify if the government failed to act.
"If our demands are not accepted, we will move forward and give the government a fixed-time ultimatum. If the government does not agree to our demands, we will take to the streets with an even larger number of employees than we are seeing today," he said.
The protest at Chaura Maidan came as the Monsoon Session of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly is underway in Shimla, with outsourced employees seeking government intervention to address their long-standing employment and wage-related concerns.