Delhi regularises 700 contractual Jal Board employees

Contractual workers across departments, from teachers to Delhi Transport Corporation and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation workers, have raised the demand for regularisation periodically over the past several years. While the move is expected to see the demand raising its head in other departments as well, it will also earn goodwill in an election year for the Aam Aadmi Party. The municipal corporation polls in Delhi are scheduled for April.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday handed over the regularisation certificates to DJB employees.

“I believe the step that we are going to take today is going to be historic. I have been informed that never has any of the past Delhi governments regularised contractual workers on such a large scale. This is the first time such mass regularisation has taken place in the entire country. Our nation is headed in the opposite direction where the number of regular employees is decreasing, and the number of non-regular employees is increasing,” he said.

Drawing a distinction between the DJB and other departments, Kejriwal said the move was possible as the utility is controlled only by the state government. In Delhi, which is not a full state but a Union Territory with special character, the services department does not come under the elected government but the Lieutenant-Governor. “The power and control that the Delhi Government can exercise is very limited. The central government has the final word over the state government. We were able to regularise you becauseDJB is an autonomous body with its own separate board calling the shots, and there is no interference from the Centre. We will make consistent efforts and negotiate with the central government to ensure more employees in other Delhi government departments are regularised,” he added.