Why a Punjab transport strike, with attempt-to-murder charges, reflects a larger problem

The immediate trigger for the transport strike was anger over a government ‘kilometre scheme’. Under this, PRTC, Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS contract out bus operations to private players. A protester set himself on fire during the protest in Sangrur, with a police personnel too suffering burn injuries. Ten protesters are in judicial custody, facing attempt-to-murder charges.

Employee unions say that by using contractual or outsourced employment, the government is cutting costs but also undermining job security.

“You don’t have to pay pensions, perks or arrears to contractual employees, so it suits the government… But job security has reduced drastically,” says Gurpreet Singh Gadiwind, president of the PSEB Joint Forum. “Earlier Diwali bonus alone in the Punjab State Electricity Board used to be an additional month’s salary.”

The electricity board once had 1.25 lakh regular employees. According to Gadiwind, “Today, only around 29,000 employees remain on regular rolls and nearly 13,000 are on contract or outsourced, even though the consumer base has increased manifold.”

Even regular recruits now spend three years on probation when they join, drawing “meagre salaries”, Gadiwind adds. “A junior engineer earns Rs 17,000-18,000 per month, while an assistant lineman gets around Rs 10,000 for the first three years before getting full grades.”

While the reliance on contractual employees started in the early ’90s, when Punjab was facing financial stress as it fought militancy, this has continued, growing in numbers as well as spreading across departments.

While neighbouring Haryana too has contractual employees, says Avtar Singh of the National Health Mission (NHM) Employees’ Union, “their salary structure is on the higher side”. In another neighbouring state, Himachal Pradesh, the share of employees on contract is far less.

During the strike of Transport Department employees, Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar assured that the government would consider their demands. “Drivers and conductors are like family to us and we understand that they are from middle-class families. Contractual employees will be regularised as per policy, and outsourced employees will be entered into contractual cadre as per policy,” he said.

In the Power Department, 5,500 employees handling consumer complaints are outsourced, 2,500 more working at grids or doing other functions are on contract, while other roles too have been shifted to contract workers or outsourced, say Punjab State Power Corporation Limited sources.

Employees like assistant lineman, data operator etc on contract or outsourced are paid Rs 10,000-13,000 per month, which is half of what a regular employee gets after completing a probation period of three years.

Balihar Singh, president of the contractual employees’ union of the corporation, says that more than money, “the root of the insecurity” is working “under a contractor”, and “not the department”.

The education sector shows a similar pattern. In 64 government colleges, out of 2,353 sanctioned posts, barely 250 are regular. The rest are ad hoc or guest faculty.

In the School Education Department, the Democratic Teachers’ Front says that out of 1.15 lakh employees, at least 25,000 are working on contract across primary to senior secondary levels.

Sources say that in the last two years, there has been an effort to regularise the school department posts, but a large proportion still comprises teachers on contract.

A union leader says Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains has told them that the situation is not ideal, particularly given the role teachers play in students’ lives.

The health sector is also heavily reliant on contractual workers. Over 9,000 contractual employees under the NHM, including nursing staff, community health officers and ANMs, are currently on pen-down strike demanding the release of salaries and job security.

NHM employees receive salaries ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 70,000 per month with a 6% annual increment, but no pension or other post-retirement benefits. “Provident fund is deducted but there is no security beyond that,” says Avtar Singh.

The 881 Aam Aadmi Clinics are entirely staffed on an incentive basis – medical officers receive Rs 50 per patient, pharmacists Rs 12 and clinical assistants Rs 11 per patient, while a peon draws a fixed Rs 10,000 per month.

According to Jaspreet Singh, president of the PWD Outsourced Electrical Employees’ Union of Punjab, a contractor pays outsourced employees “much less than what the government reimburses them per employee”. He says having contractual employees also means officials can project lower staff on their rolls, earning “brownie points”.

With fewer regular jobs, and probation-based low salaries even for permanent posts, employee unions say frustration is building across all sectors.

“The first and foremost duty of any government should be to provide jobs. But opportunities are shrinking, and that is why you are seeing unrest in every department,” says a Transport Department employee who was part of the November 28 strike.

A senior IAS officer on the condition of anonymity says: “While technical posts should be regular jobs, there are many seasonal jobs which can be outsourced. However, the salary structure needs to be looked into.”

About the argument that contractual employees are more accountable as they can be subjected to disciplinary action, which is difficult in the case of government staff, the officer said that while this may be true on paper, “it is very rare”. “Most of the employees continue once recruited.”