Kerala govt to override SC rulings while regularising temporary employees

Thiruvananthapuram: Many temporary employees in various state government departments and allied institutions are likely to made permanent soon despite objections raised by authorities. The likely beneficiaries are mostly activists and sympathisers of the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front government and efforts to regularise their services are on. Meanwhile, thousands of job aspirants who have cleared the recruitment tests of Public Service Commission are waiting to be employed.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed officials concerned to place all files concerning the regularisation of temporary workers before the Cabinet. The government is in a hurry as it wants to take the decision on matters before the declaration of Model Code of Conduct for the forthcoming Kerala Assembly Election.

The government move is to regularize the services of a large number of temporary employees including C-DIT temporary staff either at the Cabinet meeting to be held today or during the one scheduled for next week.

Illegal move

The government is going ahead with the regularisation plan despite objections raised by department secretaries concerned and the finance department.

The IT secretary had written a dissent note on the file recommending regularisation of 114 temporary staff in C-DIT which comes under the chief minister. But without taking cognisance of the IT secretary’s objection, the chief minister ordered that the file be placed directly before the Cabinet. A Cabinet note has also been prepared on the matter.

The Supreme Court had earlier pointed out that regularisation of temporary workers in such fashion was illegal.

The matters concerning the regularisation of temporary staff are being brought directly before the Cabinet to circumvent the objection of secretaries of the law and finance departments. But it may be recalled that the Supreme Court in the Uma Devi vs Government of Karnataka case in 2006, had held that regularising temporary staff using powers vested with the government was a violation of the Constitution.

Moreover, a government order which quoted this particular Supreme Court order for denying regularisation of temporary staff is still in vogue.

New posts likely

The majority of regularisation of temporary workers is going to happen in C-DIT, local bodies, PSUs under the industries department, health department, various institutions under the health department, institutions under cultural affairs department and the Horticorp. Many new posts will have to be created in these departments and institutions for this purpose.

The regularization of temporary staff at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration and KELTRON were approved by the Cabinet last month.