Bhubaneswar: Odisha Govt Outsourcing Employees Federation, along with MLAs and MPs, have written letters to chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi regarding the conditions of outsourced employees engaged across various departments in the state.These employees are facing multiple challenges, including job insecurity, low and irregular wages, lack of social security benefits, and absence of a structured service framework. They have requested government to formulate a uniform and transparent policy for outsourced employees.Six MLAs — Jay Dholakia from Nuapada, Ashwini Kumar Sarangi (Bargarh), Sofia Firdous (Barabati-Cuttack), Susant Kumar Rout (Bhubaneswar North), Bibhuti Bhusan Balabantaray (Jatni), Romancha Ranjan Biswal (Deogarh) — and two MPs — Pradeep Purohit from Bargarh and Pratap Sarangi from Balasore — have written letters to chief minister to help these outsourced employees.Apart from formulating a policy, Sofia Firdous, in her letter to CM written on Saturday, said govt should ensure fair wages, timely payment and basic social security benefits and examine the possibility of service security and regularization for eligible employees.She said the government should constitute a dedicated committee to thoroughly examine the issues, assess the feasibility of reforms and recommend appropriate measures for their welfare.“When the financial condition of Odisha was weak and regular recruitment was not taking place, outsourcing employees continued to provide services for many years. Now that the financial situation has improved, state govt should give priority consideration to these employees,” said Bijay Malla, chief advisor to Odisha Govt Outsourcing Employees Federation.As per the directions of the Supreme Court regarding ‘equal pay for equal work,’ Malla said, the neighboring state, West Bengal, has provided a salary of Rs 40,000 to such employees. Similarly, various states like Haryana and Telangana are taking steps to regularise outsourced employees. “We have hope and confidence that the chief minister of Odisha will certainly help the federation,” he added.
