AAP will regularise contractual workers wherever it forms government: Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party will regularize contract workers wherever its forms a government, AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday, urging the central and other state governments to also do the same, citing the example of Punjab where the employment of 8,000 teachers have been regularised.

“There’s now a trend across India where governments reduce government jobs and hire contract workers. These people promote a notion that permanent workers don’t live up to their duties. This is completely incorrect,” Kejriwal said. “We have proven the mettle of permanent workers in Delhi, as the permanent teachers and doctors in Delhi have been at the helm of our education and health care sector improvements.”

The Delhi government has been unable to regularise guest teachers because it lacks the administrative powers to do so, he said. The Punjab government run by the AAP has regularised 8,736 contractual teachers and several thousand other contract workers will soon be regularised, he promised.

Contract workers are subjected to constant harassment and it is now time to end this cruelty, the AAP leader said. “We have been trying to make guest teachers permanent in Delhi. We introduced a bill in the assembly over it, but the central government refused to approve it. Delhi is a half state. We lack a lot of administrative powers, which is why despite trying our best, we have been unable to regularise guest teachers. I appeal to all state governments and the Centre to regularise contract workers,” he added.

Many state governments and the Centre are systematically destroying government jobs, Kejriwal alleged. “When the economy of the country is expanding and states are also witnessing economic growth, it should have led to an increase in government jobs instead,” he said.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on the occasion of Teachers Day on September 5th had announced that 8,736 contractual teachers will be regularised. The move was unprecedented in the country, Kejriwal claimed on Saturday.

The regularisation process is taking some time because the AAP is taking a proper legal recourse so that the move is completely airtight in case it is challenged in court, he said. “We are not regularising them just for the sake of it, and it should not be the case that they get a setback if the matters gets to a court,” the Delhi chief minister said.

The AAP-led Delhi government has been able to bust the myth of non-performance of permanent government workers, he said. “The education revolution in Delhi is a result of efforts of permanent teachers as well as guest teachers. There are around 60 thousand teachers in government schools of Delhi. Previously, these teachers were wrongfully targeted. It was being said that no classes take place in government schools. Teachers come to school only to sit under the tree. The same teachers have brought a revolution in education,” Kejriwal said. “Similarly, the same government doctors, nurses and hospital staff have done a wonderful job in government hospitals and mohalla clinics.”

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress hit back, accusing Kejriwal of not regularising posts in Delhi but advising other states to do so.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said, “Kejriwal should first hear the sufferings and pleas of guest teachers in Delhi. False promises of regularisations have been made to more than 22,000 guest teachers of Delhi over the last 8 years, but nothing has been delivered.”

Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary said that besides 22,000 guest teachers, Delhi government departments like the Delhi Transport Corporation, Delhi Jal Board and health services have 55,000 temporary posts. “Instead of making them permanent, the Delhi CM is advising other states to do so”