Cabinet sub-committee to study regularisation or job safety for 3.8 lakh contract workers in govt. sector

Contemplating to provide either job security or regularisation of work to about 3.8 lakh employees working for the government on contract basis in various corporations, boards and departments, the State government on Thursday decided to form a Cabinet sub-committee to study the possibilities and come up with recommendations.

This move is aimed at curbing the manpower outsourcing lobby that currently provides people on contract.

Among the proposals before the government is to start a multi-purpose cooperative societies at the district level through which the manpower could be hired.

“To study the possibility of regularising the work or providing some sort of job security is before the government. The Cabinet sub-committee will consider all possibilities,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil told presspersons during the post-Cabinet briefing.

Hazardous units

Priority, government sources said, is to regularise the contract employment of those working in hazardous or risky occupations such as those in the Energy Department. They include linemen, gangmen, station operators and station assistants. The proposal has come up in the light of Supreme Court direction stating that the government is the principal employer to the contract labour. Sourcing of manpower through societies would entail job security to the employees.

Blending bio diesel with high-speed diesel

The Cabinet also approved the draft notification of The biodiesel (B100) blending with high-speed diesel for transportation purposes (Lincensing) Order, 2025 that would enable production of biodiesel, blending with high-speed diesel and retail sale of the blend, which would be made available outside petroleum outlets. The biodiesel is produced from non-edible vegetable oils, acid oils, used cooking oil, animal fat and fatty acids derived from the bio-oils.

“Due to non-availability of biodiesel the provision for blending is only up to 7%. This move will allow retail sale of biodiesel. Due to non-availability of biodiesel other chemicals are being sold in its name and 14 such illegal biodiesel retail outlets have been shut down in various districts in the State,” he said.

The Cabinet also approved setting up of a 100 MLD capacity secondary treatment facility and 25 MLD tertiary treatment plant by BWSSB near Bairamangala lake and a seven-year operation and maintenance contract at a total cost of ₹391.82 crore and a compressed biogas plant to be set up by GAIL at Haralagunte village with a capacity to handle 300 tonnes of biowaste generated in Bengaluru.