We should promote public services instead of expanding contractual employment
We should promote public services instead of expanding contractual employment
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2019, an Indian citizen died by suicide every hour due to unemployment, poverty or bankruptcy. In February this year, the central government in the Rajya Sabha said that between 2018 and 2020, about 25,000 Indians died by suicide. Many unemployed people in India resort to protests – thousands burnt railway coaches in January 2022 over alleged loopholes in the railway recruitment process and more recently, India witnessed protests over the Agneepath scheme.
mercenaries and fire culture
The situation is not much better for government servants. In May 2022, Haryana terminated the services of over 2,000 contract health workers (nurses, sweepers, security guards, paramedical staff) who were hired during the pandemic. In Delhi, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and others have dismissed hundreds of nurses, paramedical staff, lab technicians and other contract workers. We have thrown them out after beating the dishes to thank them.
Additionally, more than 8,300 panchayat and rural development contract workers in Assam staged protests in February 2022. They said they were in contractual condition for 12-14 years and were not given bonus, allowances, pension or pay revision. In April 2022, around 200 contractual workers of Chhattisgarh’s state electricity department were canned-charged and arrested. Being a public servant rarely matters less.
The problem is twofold. First, vacancies in the government are not being filled at an adequate pace. In July 2021, there were more than 60 lakh vacancies in the government at all levels. Of these, over 9.1 lakh were in the central government, while around 2 lakh vacancies were in PSU banks. Additionally, there were over 5.3 lakh vacancies in state police, while there were around 8.3 lakh vacancies in primary schools. The government has sought to emphasize on recruitment of 10 lakh people in mission-mode in 1.5 years. However, this will be less than the size of the problem. We need more ambition on this front.
Second, where vacancies are being filled, they are particularly inclined towards contractual jobs. In 2014, about 43% of government employees (about 12.3 million) had non-permanent or contractual jobs, of which about 6.9 million were working in major welfare schemes (eg. Anganwadi workers) with low wages (some In cases, pay less than the minimum wage as per Indian Staffing Industry Research 2014 report) and less, if any, social security cover. By 2018, the share of government employees in this category had increased to 59%. For CPSEs, the share of contractual (and non-permanent) employees increased from 19% to 37% (reaching 4,98,807 in March 2020), with the share of permanent employees declining by 25%. Consider select PSUs. In March 2020, more than 81% of ONGC employees were contract workers. Some states have sought to take this further – in 2020, while the pandemic caused massive unemployment, the state government in Uttar Pradesh sought to amend the recruitment for Groups B and C. In order to increase the number of employees (of which UP had around 9 lakh in 2020), contractual employment (for a period of five years), allowances and specific benefits were not offered to such employees. After a period of five years, a route to regularization was offered, only if workers could pass a rigorous performance appraisal; If they do not pass they will be dismissed. Any dependent of the deceased employee, if appointed to such posts, shall also undergo a similar assessment. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that a contract employee for a government department was not a government employee. If most government employees have contractual terms, will the public ethos exist?
We should promote public services instead of expanding contractual employment. For the past few decades, we have been investing less in public goods – as seen by the COVID-19 crisis, our healthcare system does not have the capacity to provide adequate health support to citizens under normal circumstances, much like a pandemic. Leave it alone. Expanding public service provision will also create good quality jobs along with skilled labor, which will provide us with social stability. Emphasis on enhancing public health will create social wealth; Having more ICU beds in the first place would have ensured that the COVID-19 crisis could have been managed better. The emphasis on a universal basic service program with public healthcare will also help complement insurance-based models such as Ayushman Bharat. However, such spending will ultimately increase consumer demand and have strong multiplier effects, while generally improving productivity and quality of life in India’s cities and villages.
employment opportunities
Consider renewable energy generation. There is significant potential for job creation (for example, in rooftop solar power generation, manufacturing of solar panel modules, and end-use servicing). Meanwhile, on the waste management front, there is significant scope for expansion of wastewater treatment capacity with construction and management of sewer effluents and sewage sludge treatment plants, which will generate employment opportunities. Encouraging solid waste treatment practices (e.g. dry waste collection, micro-composting) can create about 300 jobs per year in a city’s municipal corporation. Adoption of electric vehicles and promoting green mobility will require significant manpower, thereby creating ‘green jobs’. In addition, we must continue to encourage urban farming with significant employment potential in permaculture, horticulture and nursery management. Perhaps another route to selective PSU reform could also be considered – a PSU with greater autonomy, with the government retaining control through a holding firm, could also be subject to the right incentives. Certainly, Indian public sector undertakings can aspire to become as large and efficient as Chinese companies.
Government jobs have faded away. We need to attract talent to the government. Instead of reducing or simply deferring the cost of pensions and benefits, the government should be sizing up. Our public services require more doctors, teachers, engineers and fewer data entry clerks. Reforms supported by the Administrative Reforms Commission should be our initial step. It is time for capacity building for an efficient civil service that can meet today’s challenges – providing a corruption free welfare system, running a modern economy and providing increasingly better public goods. Better public service delivery through better compensation should be our ethos. ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ used to be a motivational motto for the government of that time. Instead, it seems ideal to treat them as dispensables.
Firoz Varun Gandhi is a Member of Parliament, representing the Pilibhit constituency for the BJP.