Officers’ Committee Formed To Draft Comprehensive Policy/Law For Regularisation Of 45000 Punjab Govt Employees

Chandigarh, March 7 Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday evening ordered the constitution of an officers’ committee to work on a comprehensive policy for the regularization of about 45,000 contractual employees in the state.

The committee, headed by retired officer Dilsher Kalha, will examine all the major aspects of such a policy/legislation, including its administrative, financial and legal implications. Secretary Personnel and Secretary Finance, along with a nominee of the Advocate General’s office, would be the other members of the committee.

The committee will submit its report within 90 days to the cabinet sub-committee, headed by Brahm Mahindra and comprising the Finance Minister as well as the minister of the concerned department to which the employees belong, for final decision.

Though the Punjab Cabinet yesterday  approved the regularization of 5178 teachers and 650 nurses, the Chief Minister felt it was necessary to have a holistic and wide-ranging policy on board to deal with the problem of the 51000-odd contractual employees, whom the previous regime had failed to regularize. Given the tight fiscal situation it had inherited from the previous government, his government was forced to delay the regularization of these employees till things improved on the fiscal front.