In Haryana House, oppn objections precede passage of job security bill

Chandigarh: Congress and INLD MLAs gave a tough time to treasury benches in the Haryana assembly on the third day of the winter session here on Monday, as seven bills were passed only after long discussions.
Maximum time was given to discussions over a bill on the Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Service) Bill, 2024, which is meant to give job security to contractual employees. Opposition targeted the govt on employment generation through Haryana Kaushal Rojgar Nigam (HKRNL). Congress MLAs Geeta Bhukkal, B B Batra, Ashok Arora, Aditya Surjewala and Bhupinder Hooda, and INLD MLA Aditya Devilal Chautala came down heavily on HKRNL and questioned criteria for appointments through the nigam.
Opposition MLAs said the the issue should be referred to the select committee and bill be deferred for a few days. However, CM Nayab Singh Saini justified his move of presenting the bill. Ahead of assembly elections, BJP had promised job guarantee to contractual employees and the Saini-led cabinet has passed an ordinance on the promise. Congress, too, had promised to give permanent jobs to those employed through HKRNL.
Bhukkal and Arora said HKRNL promoted “parchi-kharchi” system and resulted in underpaid and inappropriate employment through nigam. MLAs gave examples of highly qualified men and women applying for Class IV jobs through HKRNL.
In his reply to the debate, Saini justified the move of job security to contractual employment. He elaborated upon rules formed for HKRNL for recruitment. He complimented former CM Manohar Lal Khattar for bringing in HKRNL. He also gave a caste-wise break-up of appointments made through HKRNL.Hooda insisted if the government made a roster of reservation in HKRNL. “We implemented this policy from Aug 14 and have secured job guarantees for over 1.2 lakh contractual employees. This bill has been brought for transparency and job security. We have even given employment to those who lost jobs due to wrongs of previous governments,” said Saini.
In what appeared to be good news for those drawing salaries above Rs 50,000 per month, Saini said his govt was bringing a bill for that as well. With this, speaker Harvinder Kalyan moved a proposal to pass the bill which was approved with voice vote. Ahead of the passage of bills, Surjewala suggested some amendments, but these were rejected by the House.