L-G orders release of wages for contractual workers of Delhi govt’s social welfare homes

New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has ordered release of wages for 281 contractual workers of social welfare homes run by the Delhi government on Thursday.

The wages had been pending for over five months since April 2023. These contractual workers provide basic day-to-day care to intellectually

impaired residents and inmates of Asha Kiran, Asha Deep and Asha Jyoti Homes which run under the Social Welfare Department.

They include 221 Caregivers, 17 GNM Nurses, ANM Nurses, 1 cook, 5 kitchen helpers, 1 LDC, and 2 peons. The L-G has directed that their wages be released from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.

The payment was delayed as some of the staff members had challenged the proposal of the Social Welfare Departments’ to change the nature of employment from contractual to outsourced basis in the Central Administrative Tribunal and Delhi High Court, but as the disposal of appeals filed by the Department may take some more time, Saxena agreed to the release of their wages by approving a proposal endorsed by the Chief Secretary, said the L-G office.

They further mentioned that the L-G Secretariat had examined the proposal of the department to change the nature of employment which was received earlier in March 2023, and found that it was “not in consonance with the CAT and High Court orders and so the action of the department could attract contempt petitions”.

The workers working in these shelter hopes have been in contract since 2010.