Coronavirus and the economic slowdown has not only impacted private companies, but even State Govts are not left untouched.
In of the first instances of a State Govt embracing layoffs, 200,000 contractual workers have been fired by Odisha Govt.
Why and how did this happen?
Odisha Fires 2,00,000 Contractual Workers
Odisha Govt has announced that all contractual and temporary workers in the state have been fired. They will be provided their wages till the time their contract exists, and after that, the contracts won’t be reviewed.
State’s Finance Ministry issued a memorandum: “After careful consideration, the Government has been pleased to decide that persons who are engaged on outsourcing basis, are to be paid their entitlement as per the terms and conditions of engagement till the contract period ends,”
The memorandum was issued by Finance Secretary Ashok Meena, who said that if the contract period ends within the lockdown period, then all the pending wages will be paid till the end of the specific contract.
How Many People Will Be Impacted
Around 2,00,000 temporary workers and contractual workers will be out of job in the state, and around 200,000+ families will be directly directed.
This translates to approximately 800,000 people getting directly or indirectly impacted.
There are all sorts of contractual workers in Odisha, which includes lawyers, engineers, and more, and some of them have been working for more than 15-20 years, and getting a meager salary of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 from the Govt.
Although the salary was less, but they were able to survive. But now, that too has been stopped.
The opposition has described this decision as “unfortunate, undesirable and inhuman.”
Who Will Be Exempted
As per the notification issued, ex-Govt employees who were re-employed as contractual workers will be exempted.
Govt said, “Retired government servants re-employed on pay minus pension basis are excluded from this stipulation (restriction),”
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
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