Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (Photo source: Twitter/@ArvindKejriwal)Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged state governments and the Union government to regularise the services of temporary employees, stating that the system of temporary postings is exploitative.
“From the AAP, I would like to say that wherever the party forms the government, we will make temporary employees permanent, and give them their rights,” Kejriwal said.
In an address on Saturday, Kejriwal pointed to the Punjab government as an example. “On September 5, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann made a big announcement, which is important not just for Punjab but for the rest of the country as well. He announced that 8,000 temporary teachers will be given permanent positions,” Kejriwal said.
Mann had announced that the services of 8,736 government school teachers in Punjab would be regularised.
Kejriwal said the Delhi government had not been able to make the positions of guest teachers permanent in the national capital. “People working as temporary employees are right at the bottom of the hierarchy and are the poorest. They are exploited. It is time to end their exploitation. This trend will spread from Punjab now. In Delhi also, we wanted to do this. To make guest teachers permanent in Delhi, we brought a bill in the Assembly, but the Union government did not approve it. Though we wanted to do it, we couldn’t,” he said.
“In Punjab, there are many other temporary employees, and the government there and AAP are working towards making them permanent. There were many such employees who have been protesting for many years. Such employees who are now over-age are being given age relaxations,” Kejriwal said.
“In the country, the trend is to end permanent jobs and employ people on a temporary basis. Government jobs should increase. But there is a pattern now in the country, temporary employees are being brought in. It is said that permanent employees don’t work. This is not true. In Delhi, it was said that teachers in government schools don’t teach. But these teachers brought about a revolution in education. Government doctors, nurses, and medical staff have done good work in hospitals and mohalla clinics. It is wrong to say that permanent employees don’t work,” Kejriwal added.