Hyderabad is witnessing growing concern among outsourcing employees in state government departments. The latest worry affects workers in government degree colleges. About 270 of these employees have been told informally to look for other options because their contract extensions are uncertain.
This situation began in the GST (Commercial Taxes) department. There, employees were asked to leave at the start of the new financial year. Now, staff from the audit, excise, treasury, and degree colleges departments face the same issue.
Around 95 employees from the GST section were let go in April. The numbers from other departments include 70 from Treasury, 14 from Audit, 40 from Excise, 30 from degree colleges, and 20 from TSGLI.
The trend is noticeable in departments where regular positions like junior assistants are being filled. An anonymous employee from the GST department shared, “We received no official order. We were just told our services are no longer needed.”
Nearly two lakh outsourcing employees work in various sectors across the state. They have been advocating for a separate corporation, similar to the AP Corporation for outsourced services, but are now facing uncertainty.
Many departments are cutting jobs to reduce costs. Lakshmaiah Puli, president of Outsourcing Employees JAC, stated, “Instead of regular recognition, employees who have served for 15 years are being abruptly dismissed. This has caused distress to their families and harmed their morale.”
MLC Prof Kodandaram raised the issue with the government on June 17, urging a prompt resolution. In a letter to the Chief Secretary, he questioned the sudden dismissals and noted that salaries have not been paid for three months. On June 18, JAC leaders met with Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao during the ‘Meet Your Minister’ event at Gandhi Bhavan to discuss the plight of outsourcing employees.
