HYDERABAD: In a huge relief to 98 outsourced employees working in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) as sanitary supervisors, sanitation workers, entomology field workers and other posts, the Telangana High Court directed the State government and GHMC to consider the petitioners’ case for regularisation of their services within two months.
The “outsourcing of employees” system adopted by the GHMC is a ruse to avoid extending service entitlements to the petitioners, the court remarked. After hearing the case, Justice Ramachandra Rao said the GHMC is a statutory corporation and comes within the purview of the term ‘State’.
“As for the petitioners’ duties, they assumed great importance during the present pandemic and every citizen would appreciate the yeoman services being rendered by the petitioners in cleaning and sanitising infected containment zones and public places. The GHMC has to necessarily employ on regular basis, persons to discharge these duties, but the corporation is silent. Whatever rights that regular employees have such as increments, pensionary benefits and so on, such provisions are not available to outsourced employees since they are engaged through contractors. This amounts to unfair labour practice,” the judge said. The judge directed the GHMC to pay arrears by September 15 this year.