By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 28 Jan: Source have claimed that Dehradun Municipal Corporation (Doon Nagar Nigam) is seriously mulling on terminating services of certain outsources employees working for it. The sources claim that this move is intended towards rationalisation of outsourced workforce. They also claimed that the Nigam has initiated preparations to terminate the services of 56 outsource employees following a detailed review of performance and workload. However, this move is politically sensitive and it remains to be seen, if the Nigam is able to ensure this without much political hue and cry.
The sources have claimed that the decision has been taken after an internal assessment revealed discrepancies in deployment and utilisation of manpower within various sections of the Municipal Corporation.
It has been reminded that at present, the Municipal Corporation presently has 363 outsourced employees on its rolls, including 140 sanitation workers, while the remaining personnel comprise of data entry operators and Grade IV staff. Officials now claim that during a departmental review, it was revealed that several employees had been engaged unnecessarily, while some were reportedly rendering services at locations other than the Municipal Corporation. In view of these findings, the administration has proposed a move for retrenchment of around 56 employees.
It may be recalled that the outsourced employees are engaged through a contracted agency, RK Associates and are paid monthly salaries (wages) ranging between Rs 12,000 and Rs 20,000. It is stated that the Municipal Corporation spends approximately Rs 85 lakh every month on salaries of the outsourced personnel. The present exercise aims to ensure optimal utilisation of resources and curb unwarranted expenditure.
The list of employees identified for removal includes one person deployed at the residence of a government official, one at the residence of a former Municipal Commissioner, seven posted at the Directorate of Urban Development and one is reportedly working at the office of a political party. The retrenchment list further includes 12 employees from the Public Works section, eight from the Land section, two from Records, three from the Fuel Store, five from the Zonal office, two from the Legal section, two from Health, four from the Tax section, four from the Workshop and 11 from various other departments of the corporation.
It may be pertinent to note here that a similar exercise to remove more than 90 outsourced employees was also initiated around one and a half years ago, but the process could not be carried forward due to political pressure. At present, the Municipal Corporation continues to face acute shortages of regular staff, with vacant posts of Executive Engineer and Assistant Engineer in the Public Works section, an inadequate number of Patwaris in the Land section, a shortage of Sanitary Inspectors in the Health Department and insufficient Tax Inspectors in the Tax section as per the sanctioned strength.
Not only this, over the past one year, several new parks have been developed across the city, which also require dedicated manpower for their upkeep and maintenance. An assessment of the manpower requirement for these parks has already been completed. Based on this assessment, directions have been issued to the outsource agency to undertake recruitment wherever necessary. At the same time, reports were sought from various departments to identify surplus staff, enabling the corporation to remove redundant personnel and engage manpower strictly in accordance with actual requirements.
It remains to be seen however, if this time, the Municipal Corporation is able to remove these outsources employees or whether it will be forced once again to abandon its move midway.
