Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla approves Recruitment and Service Conditions Bill, seniority and financial benefits will not be available during contract period

Shimla, 08 February: Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla has approved the Himachal Pradesh Government Employees Recruitment and Service Conditions Bill. This bill has now been published in the gazette. A notification in this regard has been issued by the Principal Secretary Law. This bill was passed by the state government in the winter session of the Assembly held in Dharamshala. However, the opposition party BJP had protested during the discussion on this bill.

Under this bill, employees in Himachal Pradesh will not get seniority and financial benefits of contract service period. This system will be implemented from the year 2003. It is believed that a major concern behind bringing this bill is the possible financial burden on the state. In fact, by giving the benefit of contract service period, not only will a huge allocation of additional resources have to be made to the employees, but the seniority list for the last 21 years will also have to be amended.

According to the bill, the purpose of the bill is to establish harmony between the interests of regular government employees and contractual appointments. During the passage of this bill in the assembly, the state government clarified that this bill takes power from Article 309 of the Constitution of India, under which the recruitment and service conditions of public employees are regulated.

Contract based appointments in Himachal started in 2003 in which the service conditions were clearly mentioned in the appointment letters. The employees were made aware that their tenure under the contract will not count for seniority or other benefits available to regular employees.