Over 15,000 CSS employees stage agitation demanding regularisation of their jobs

Aizawl, Sep 16 (PTI) Over 15,000 employees under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) in Mizoram on Tuesday staged a state-wide protest demanding that the government fulfil their long-standing demand to be regularised under the state government.

The agitation organised across the state was spearheaded by All Mizoram CSS Employees Coordination Committee (AMCECC).

AMCECC general secretary Vanlalpeka said that demonstrations were held in all the district headquarters, including Aizawl, and some important towns by the employees.

He said that the CSS employees have been demanding the implementation of "Mizoram Regularisation of CSS Employees Scheme" notified on 18 June last year and the withdrawal of appointment of about 31 provisional employees (Health workers) under the state health department invoking the CSS scheme.

"While we are waiting for the implementation of the regularisation scheme, the state government issued an office memorandum in October last year laying down several regularisation norms or checklists which are impossible for us to meet, hindering our regularisation," Vanlalpeka told PTI.

He said that many of the employees have been working for more than 25 years in various departments.

Vanlalpeka said that they have been demanding regularisation of eligible employees for years, but the government did not pay heed to them.

In April this year, the CSS employees had staged a pen/tool down strike for several days and took mass casual leave for three days between September 7 and 9 to register their protest.

Meanwhile, state Health secretary H Lalengmawia, who assumed charge as the state's chief secretary, said the government is giving much concern to the workers and is taking all possible steps to regularise their services.

He, however, said that the CSS employees regularisation scheme can be applied to only those workers, who are appointed through proper recruitment procedures using advertisement (open competition) and recommended by the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) as per the rules.

He said that the majority of the CSS employees, particularly under National Health Mission (NHM) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), are recruited without following appropriate recruitment procedures.

Many of them were also appointed illegally or through back doors, he said.

Lalengmawia said that the office memorandum for regularisation was issued in October last year.

Since the CSS employees are to be regularised under the direct quota system, they are required to be appointed through proper recruitment procedures as demanded by Articles 14 and 16 of the country's constitution, he said.

"Since many of the CSS employees are recruited illegally or without going through proper recruitment procedures, their regularisation or public appointment under the government will be a breach of article 14 and 16," Lalengmawia told PTI.

Leaders of AMCECC argued that they were not appointed illegally or using backdoor influence.

According to Vanlalpekaa, there are more than 15,000 workers under CSS across 16 departments, with the school education department having the highest at more than 5,300, followed by the health department at over 3,000. PTI CORR RG