Shimla, Oct 23
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) has recently faced criticism for its decision to lay off 81 drivers employed on an outsourced basis in various subdivisions of the state. The government has blamed the Central Government’s scrappage policy for the retrenchment, citing a notification from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) that mandated the grounding of vehicles older than 15 years.
The decision has sparked concerns about the state government’s employment policies, particularly its commitment to regularizing outsourced employees and increasing employment avenues. While the government had previously made such promises, the retrenchment of drivers appears contradictory.
Union leaders, including Hiralal Verma, have expressed concerns about the government’s broader strategy of downsizing the workforce. Verma pointed out that the government’s recent decision to declare 66 posts of Superintending and Executive Engineer as a “dying cadre” is indicative of a long-term plan to reduce the overall strength of HPSEBL’s workforce.
Critics argue that the government’s employment policies are inconsistent. On the one hand, there is an apparent commitment to creating new employment avenues and filling vacancies; on the other, the workforce is being reduced through retrenchment and reclassification of positions as dying cadres.
These policy flip-flops not only affect the livelihoods of workers but also raise concerns about the future functioning of the state’s electricity board.
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