Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday accused the previous government of according special favours to alleged Saifai (Etawah) and Rampur syndicates and exploiting outsourced employees.
Though Yogi did not directly name the Samajwadi Party or any of its leaders, his reference to the SP chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and jailed SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan appeared obvious. Saifai is the home district of Akhilesh Yadav, while Azam Khan belongs to Rampur. The state government would bear the surcharge payable to service provider agencies, and no deduction on this account would be made from employees’ salaries. Other service benefits, including maternity leave, would also be available.
Around 3.5 lakh outsourced employees work in various government departments. Yogi said his government had formulated uniform policies applicable to all 75 districts of the state. He said his government considered outsourced employees an asset and that the launch of UPCOS was an attack on the system that had prevailed in the state before 2017. The state government has already decided that the outsourced will get a monthly honorarium of ₹ 16,000 to ₹ 20,000 per month. If they were unable to avail themselves of free treatment there, they would be eligible for Ayushman Bharat health coverage of up to ₹ 5 lakh for themselves and their families. The chief minister said employees would also be entitled to emergency medical assistance of up to ₹ 5 lakh. In case of an employee’s death, ₹ 8 lakh would be provided for the higher education of a son and ₹ 10 lakh for the higher education of a daughter. A maximum of ₹ 10 lakh would be provided for the education of up to two daughters in cases of accidental death.
The chief minister said the corporation would help make outsourced employees an organised, skilled, secure and dignified workforce. He said outsourced employees did not receive remuneration commensurate with the work they performed and stressed that economic disparity needed to be addressed to eliminate social disparities. Agencies would also be required to inform the government before dismissing an outsourced employee, he said, adding that this would prevent workers from being removed on the basis of false reports. The chief minister said ESI contributions would make employees eligible for free treatment at ESI hospitals.
