The Himachal Pradesh High Court has firmly rejected the state government’s plea to lift the ban on outsourced recruitments, upholding its position against the controversial policy. A division bench, led by Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Satyen Vaidya, ruled that outsourcing violates Article 16 of the Constitution, which ensures equal opportunities in public employment.

In its ruling, the court strongly criticized the state’s outsourcing policy, asserting that it leads to exploitation and denies equal access to public sector jobs for all sections of society. The bench emphasized that, as a welfare state, the government should focus on creating permanent, accountable, and transparent job opportunities rather than relying on temporary outsourced hiring.

The court’s decision came down hard on outsourcing practices in the health department, particularly the recruitment of nurses under the National Health Mission. The bench noted that these outsourcing practices bypassed established financial rules and lacked transparency, making them unacceptable.

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The petitioner had argued that, according to the Recruitment and Promotion (R&P) Rules, 45% of nursing positions in the state should be filled through direct batch-wise recruitment, with the rest filled through written examinations. However, the petitioner contended that these regulations were being ignored. Further, the petitioner revealed that numerous companies involved in outsourcing recruitment practices were fraudulent, with as many as 110 such companies operating in the state.

The court also highlighted the discrepancy between state and central government policies. While the central government permits outsourcing only for Class IV positions, Himachal Pradesh has extended outsourcing to higher-class positions, including Law Officers, IT professionals, and teachers. The bench directed the state government to ensure transparency by uploading all candidate data related to outsourced recruitments on its official website.

Back in November, the court had imposed a blanket ban on recruitments through the Electronics Corporation of Himachal Pradesh, the agency managing outsourced hiring for government departments. Reiterating its stance, the court urged the government to replace outsourcing practices with permanent job provisions to ensure greater accountability and fairness in public sector employment.