From Our Correspondent
RESUBELPARA, Jan 13: Highlighting the need for clarity and adherence to existing policies to safeguard the livelihoods of long-serving contractual workers, employees of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department in North Garo Hills (NGH) district, many of whom have been serving on a contractual basis for over five years, have raised concerns over a recent decision by the PHE Executive Engineer, Sokma Najair, to refer job vacancies to the District Selection Committee (DSC) instead of processing them within the department.
This comes at a time when the Meghalaya government has regularised the jobs of over 800 ad-hoc employees across various departments, building on the earlier absorption of 3,000 contractual workers under the NPP-led administration.
The affected employees argue that the vacancies in question, including five LDA/Typist posts, were created due to retirements or deaths and had been filled on an ad-hoc basis by existing staff. They believe the decision to involve the DSC could jeopardise their chances of regularisation, particularly for those who have been working on short-term contracts for 5-10 years.
According to sources within the PHE department, a government notification issued in 2017 (Order #PER (AR)60/99/254) acknowledged the challenges faced by long-serving contractual employees in clearing DSC interviews. The notification aimed to protect these employees by instructing departments to form internal DSCs for lower-level posts, ensuring a smoother transition to regular employment.
In 2019, the Chief Engineer of PHE directed all district offices to implement this approach.
The former Executive Engineer of NGH, Augustine Sangma, constituted a departmental DSC to handle recruitment but was transferred before completing the process. However, instead of continuing with this method, the new EE, who joined in mid-2024, opted to refer the vacancies to the central DSC, contradicting the government’s earlier directive.
Sources revealed that involving the DSC often leads to the displacement of experienced contractual workers in favor of fresh candidates, leaving the former jobless and unable to seek other government jobs due to age restrictions.
“Despite their qualifications and experience, many contractual employees fail to pass DSC interviews. This has rendered them jobless and over-aged, with no hope of future employment,” a senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The decision has caused significant unrest among the affected employees, who have labeled the move as either negligence or willful disregard of government orders. They have demanded that the department take immediate action to cancel the LDA/Typist posts referred to the DSC and enforce the 2017 notification.
When contacted, the PHE Executive Engineer defended the decision, stating that the DSC process was intended for the recruitment of regular employees, not the regularisation of ad-hoc staff. He also noted that any recruitment through the departmental DSC required prior permission from the Chief Engineer.
Employees and former officials are urging the government to address the issue by taking action against the officer and revoking the posts sent to the DSC. “If no redressal measures are taken, the government’s promises of protecting contractual workers will amount to nothing,” a former official remarked.