Chandigarh Administration Reiterates Opposition to Contract Employee Regularization
In a significant development affecting hundreds of long-serving contractual employees, the Chandigarh administration has reaffirmed its strong opposition to regularizing their services. This stance persists despite several recent court rulings that have provided relief to employees in similar positions across various departments.
Administration Shifts Responsibility to Central Government
Through an official circular issued by the personnel department to all Union Territory department secretaries, the administration has clearly placed the responsibility for any regularization policy on the central government. The circular explicitly states that regularization of contractual employees will only be considered if the Centre formulates specific policies or rules addressing this issue, which the Chandigarh administration would subsequently adopt.
The document expresses strong reservations against blanket regularization, warning that approving such demands for one group could potentially open floodgates for other daily-wage or contractual employees working across various departments, boards, and corporations. Department heads have been instructed to carefully assess whether they would be in a position to extend such benefits to all eligible staff members.
Fairness Concerns in Public Employment
The circular raises important questions about fairness in public sector employment, particularly noting: "Will it not be unfair if a large number of vacancies are filled through such regularization in the present era of scarcity of government jobs, when lakhs of well-qualified youth are preparing for competitive examinations and awaiting regular vacancies?"
This perspective highlights the administration's commitment to merit-based recruitment through established competitive processes, aligning with central service rules and regulations.
Legal Framework and Judicial References
The administration has directed all department heads to present these views strongly before courts through senior counsel when defending cases related to daily-wage or contractual employee regularization. The circular cites multiple high court and Supreme Court judgments to support its position, including:
- A judgment dated April 25, 2024, by a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in CWP No. 9322-2024 (Bipin Sher Singh Vs. Union of India and others), which dismissed the plea of contractual teachers under the Education Department for regularization
- The landmark Supreme Court judgment in Secretary, State of Karnataka vs. Umadevi (dated April 10, 2006), which established strict guidelines on regularization
The circular further notes that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has clarified that regularization under the Umadevi judgment was a one-time exercise limited to daily-wage, ad hoc, or contractual employees who had completed 10 years of continuous service as of April 10, 2006, without the protection of any interim court orders.
Criticism from Employee Representatives
Arvind Rana, legal adviser to the Chandigarh Teachers' Association (CTA), reacted sharply to the circular, criticizing the administration's approach. "As usual, the administration is searching for an escape route and putting the onus on Government of India. Without any regularization policy by the Centre, they claim they cannot regularize contractual employees by framing their own policy. In its circular, the department fails to mention the recent judicial judgments in favor of regularization," he stated.
Rana added that the administration has been consistently losing cases in the high court and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Chandigarh, suggesting they may eventually be forced to regularize employees through court orders rather than through proactive policy formulation.
Broader Context and Implications
This development occurs amid ongoing demands from various groups of contractual employees, including teachers, for absorption into regular service after years of continuous engagement. The administration's position underscores its alignment with central service rules and its commitment to maintaining merit-based recruitment processes through competitive examinations.
The circular represents a significant policy statement that will likely influence ongoing legal battles and negotiations between contractual employees and the administration. It highlights the complex balance between addressing the legitimate concerns of long-serving contractual staff and maintaining fairness in public employment systems that attract thousands of qualified candidates through competitive processes annually.
