Jaipur: Around 3,500 contractual employees working under Rajasthan’s Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar & Aajeevika Mission (Grameen) (VB-G RAM-G), formerly MGNREGA, have deferred their proposed boycott by 15 days after receiving assurances from the state govt on regularisation.A delegation of the VB-G RAM-G (NREGA) Karmik Sangh met rural development minister Kirori Lal Meena at his residence Wednesday and submitted a memorandum seeking early finalisation of service rules and initiation of the regularisation process.Meena told the delegation that the service rules were in the final stages and the remaining formalities would be completed soon, paving the way for regularisation. Following the assurance, the employees decided to postpone their agitation for 15 days.State union president Dinesh Meena said contractual employees have been serving the rural development dept on a modest honorarium for nearly two decades, making it increasingly difficult to support their families amid rising inflation. He said the employees hoped the govt would honour its assurance at the earliest.According to Meena, the proposal for regularisation has already been cleared by the finance and personnel depts, with only the law dept’s approval pending. He also said the state govt had assured the Assembly during the Budget Session that service rules would be framed to facilitate the regularisation of contractual employees.The employees were appointed in 2005 when the employment guarantee scheme was launched on a pilot basis in Dungarpur, Banswara, Pratapgarh and Udaipur. They continued in service after the scheme was expanded across the state in 2008.The minister said repeated attempts to regularise their services over the years had failed because of legal and procedural hurdles.
