Ahead of Diwali, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has approved the proposal to implement ‘Rajasthan Contractual Hiring to Civil Post Rules, 2022’, benefitting over 1 lakh contractual workers.
The rules will ensure transparency and reservation in recruitment; priority to workers if post is regularised; fixed honorarium; and old pension scheme (OPS) benefit on regularisation.
These rules will be applicable to the contractual workers in various departments of the state. The decision will benefit over 1.10 lakh contractual workers who will be brought under the purview of these rules.
The decision was taken in a high-level meeting held at the chief minister’s residence on Saturday evening.
A release from Gehlot’s office said that the contractual workers continued to play an important role in the implementation of various welfare and social security schemes of the central and various state governments, but their social security was not taken care of. In many states, their honorarium was not increased either. With this decision, the social security of over 1.10 lakh contractual workers of the state will be ensured.
A total of 1,10, 279 contractual workers, including 41,423 in education department, including teachers, para teachers, gram panchayat assistants and English medium teachers; 18,326 in rural development and panchayati raj department, including Rajivika and MNREGA; 5,697 madarsa para teachers; and 44,833 contractual workers of medical and health department and medical education department, will be benefitted by these rules.
Under Rajasthan Contractual Hiring to Civil Post Rules, 2022, contractual workers completing 5 years of work will get confirmation if the posts are regularised. They can be made permanent after screening. The honorarium of these contractual workers has been fixed by considering their equivalent permanent post apart from provision of special pay protection. On being regularised, these personnel will be given old pension scheme (OPS) benefit too.
In the past, several committees were formed from time-to-time to regularise contractual workers, but their problems could not be resolved permanently. Gehlot announced the creation of department-wise cadre of contractual workers in the Budget 2021-22 and announced a 20% hike in their honorarium in the Budget 2022-23.
