Outsourced employees continue to be laid off in Municipal Corporation of Gurugram

Gurugram: Large numbers of outsourced employees continue to be laid off in the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), with the civic body terminating the services of 50 more employees.

From May, about 300 outsourced employees have been laid off. It is estimated that there are over 1,500 outsourced employees who are presently rendering their services at the public agency. Several employees like the gardeners, computer operators, clerks and surveyors are some of the category of outsourced employees in MCG.

Lack of funds due to long periods of lockdown has been attributed as one of the major reasons for the huge number of layoffs of outsourced employees. There have also been allegations in the past of the MCG not adopting the right procedure to select the outsourced employees.

It had been alleged that through favouritism and corruption, large number of outsourced employees - more than the capacity - were employed, resulting in losses to the public agency. It was on the basis of these allegations that in November last year, the MCG laid off 58 outsourced employees. The situation for MCG outsourced employees and other contract workers of other Gurugram public agencies became difficult in 2020 with the pandemic increasing the losses of government departments in the city.

Facing a major financial crunch due to the ongoing economic crisis, induced by the pandemic, the Haryana Government has officially communicated to public agencies here to reduce their expenditures. In order to cut costs, all major Gurugram public authorities now have reduced new recruitments. Other major public agencies that include the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) and Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) have also now begun to explore ways to reduce manpower.

Major forms of revenue for the Gurugram public agencies include the external development charges and property taxes, which have declined this year. Moreover, high levels of expenditure has been incurred by the public agencies for relief work April, May and June. Shortage of funds has also resulted in halting of several infrastructure projects in the city.