One lakh Delhi contract workers to be regularized

More than one lakh Delhi government employees working on contract will be given permanent jobs, Education Minister Manish Sisodia announced Friday.

A 13-member committee headed by Chief Secretary Sanjoy Kumar Srivastava will decide the policy and guidelines for this, the Aam Aadmi Party leader told the media.

According to an official, the contract employees are employed over several departments, including those related to education, health and transport.

"The committee will prepare the policy within one month, in which the time frame of regularizing the people will be decided," said Sisodia.

He said the employees will remain working on contract up till the time the recruitment process is completed.

"Their recruitment will be based on age, experience and talent," he added.

Sisodia said that the Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSB) officials told him that there were 18,000 vacant posts in government departments in 2008 and these had doubled to 36,000 within the past five years.

"When I asked the officials how much time will it take to fill the posts, they told me that it would take around 165 months (more than 13 years)," he said.

The committee will also look after the process of filling up these posts as soon possible, he said.