PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry CM N Rangasamy has announced that the government will re-employ retrenched Public Works Department (PWD) voucher workers and others in light of upcoming large-scale construction projects planned by the government.
Winding up the debate on demand for grants, the CM stated that steps are being taken to regularise the services of 196 Commune Panchayat employees and 119 Full-Time Casual Labourers (FTCL) in the PWD. The file is currently with the L-G and will soon be approved.
Additionally, 156 employees who were previously dismissed from the Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Krishi Vigyan kendra (KVK) will be re-engaged . The government also plans to regularise technicians who have been working in KVK on low salaries for over 20 years. Furthermore, employment has been provided to heirs on compassionate grounds as Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) workers in the PWD.
The government will soon revive the concrete house construction project through the Slum Clearance Board, leading to the reemployment of retrenched workers. Similarly, retrenched PADCO workers will be re-hired, said the CM. The administration is also exploring ways to ensure efficient management in government-run entities like PTDC. Discussions with the chief secretary are under way to make employees of Office of Council of Ministers (OCM) permanent, by following the same procedures in previous regularisations, said Rangasamy.
In the health sector, vacant posts are being filled, and 12 new ambulances have been procured, said the Chief Minister. Despite the central government’s refusal to make NRHM employees permanent, their wages would be increased. Staff nurses will now receive Rs 25,000, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) employees Rs 22,000, and social workers Rs 12,000. The salary of ASHA workers would be enhanced from 10,000 to 18,000, The government also aims to ensure that no worker receives a salary below Rs 15,000, benefiting Public Works Voucher workers, and Rajiv Gandhi Breakfast scheme workers .
Further, temporary Anganwadi workers will see their monthly honorarium increase from Rs 6,450 to Rs 12,000, while Anganwadi helpers will receive Rs 10,000, up from Rs 4,375. Commune Panchayat employees working in DRDA will also have their salaries raised to Rs 10,000.
The government has also proposed the creation of a "Puducherry Corporation" by merging with Puducherry and Oulgaret Municipalities and some urban areas under Villianur and Ariyankuppam communes, said the Chief Minister. This move aims to enhance financial resources and improve city infrastructure, health, and education facilities.