Cash-starved Tamil Nadu to outsource jobs, appoint contract workers

CHENNAI:

Tamil Nadu government

has embarked on a cost-cutting drive and has constituted a committee to identify non-essential posts that can be done away with, outsourced or filled through contract appointments for a fixed period.

No government employee would be retrenched from service, but based on the recommendation of the committee, several thousand government employees in C and D categories could be redeployed, sources said. Those vacancies could, in turn, be filled using outsourced agencies or by contract labourers. This new

Staff Rationalisation Committee

is to be headed by retired IAS officer S Audiseshiah, former principal secretary to the government of Tamil Nadu, and has been set up for a period of six months. Expenditure secretary M A Siddique is the ex-officio-secretary of the committee, a GO issued by finance secretary K Shanmugam on Monday said.

The committee has also been told to suggest ways and means of cutting down administrative expenditure in government departments and agencies. By appointing contract employees or outsourcing non-essential jobs, the government feels that pension and other retirement benefits for these positions could be saved. In all, there are close to 10 lakh government employees in the state at present, said an official. “The government should outsource the work of section officers and below as they account for a major drain on the exchequer,” said a senior IAS official.

The proposal could trigger unrest among government employees. Nevertheless, it is aimed at cutting down the burgeoning revenue expenditure and deficit — caused primarily due to increasing salaries and pensions.

Govt expenditure on salaries and pensions

goes up to Rs 88,000 crore

Nevertheless, it is aimed at cutting down the burgeoning revenue expenditure and deficit, caused primarily by mounting salaries and pensions.

Surprisingly, there is no word on controlling subsidies and freebies, which also come under the revenue expenditure head.

As the new pay commission recommendations have been implemented, the government’s expenditure on account of payment of salaries and pensions has gone up from 67,000 crore to 88,000 crore. This accounts for 50% of the total revenue expenditure of the government.

Already, the IAS lobby has been raising voices against appointment of IAS officers in non-cadre posts, which is sheer waste of resources for the government.

Government employees’ unions say there are more than three lakh vacancies in various government departments. These vacancies are mostly in C and D categories. In the C category, there are stenographers, typists, drivers, junior assistants and assistants. In D category, there are peons and record clerks.