This year Diwali was celebrated with pomp and show after a lull of two years due to Covid-19. The five-day festival of lights is celebrated in royal style in Jaipur with beautiful decorations and colourful lighting. Tourists throng the city to enjoy Diwali.
This Diwali has added happiness to the government employees, especially the contractual personnel. The state government has approved the proposal to implement ‘Rajasthan Contractual Hiring to Civil Post Rules, 2022’ in the State. These rules will be applicable to the contractual workers in various departments of the State.
The decision will benefit more than 1.10 lakh contractual workers who will be brought under the purview of these rules. This will bring new light in the lives of these contractual workers and their families on the occasion of Deepawali.
It is to be noted that these 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 humane decision by Gehlot, the social security of these contractual workers of the state will be ensured.
As a result of Gehlot’s historical decision, a total of 1,10,279 contractual workers including 41423 in the Education Department, including teachers, para teachers, gram panchayat assistants and English medium teachers, 18326 in the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department, including Rajivika and MNREGA, 5697 Madarsa para teachers in the department of Minority Affairs, and 44833 contractual workers of Medical & Health Department and Medical Education Department, will be benefitted by these rules.
The implementation of Rajasthan Contractual Hiring to Civil Post Rules, 2022, will ensure transparency in the recruitment of contractual workers and reservations will also be taken care of. Along with this, in future, contractual workers completing 5 years of work will get confirmation if the posts are regularized. They can be made permanent after screening. The honorarium of these contractual workers has been fixed by considering their equivalent permanent post apart from the provision of special pay protection. On being regularised, these personnel will be given OPS benefits too.
In the past, several committees were formed from time to time to regularize 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.
Meanwhile, the state government announced a bonus to its employees barring the officers (gazetted), which will benefit around 6 lakh employees. The bonus will be paid to employees drawing a salary of pay-matrix level -12 of Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2017 or grade pay-4800 or less than this level. It will be payable to panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad employees and also to the in-charge employees. The ad hoc bonus has been calculated on the maximum perks of Rs 7000 and 31days a month for the year 2021-22 and will be payable for a period of 30 days. Each employee will get an ad hoc bonus of a maximum of Rs 6774. 75% of the bonus will be paid in cash, while 25% will be deposited in GPF. The government will have an additional burden of Rs 500 crore on the disbursement of this bonus.
