Bihar Government Extends Reservations to Outsourced Jobs in Public Sector

Patna: In a significant development, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government on Wednesday increased the ambit of reservation by bringing outsourced jobs in the public sector within its fold.

In a cabinet meeting in Patna, chaired by Kumar, a proposal to apply the state government’s reservation policy in outsourced government jobs was approved.

Briefing media about the decision, cabinet secretary Brajesh Mehrotra said, “Reservation policy would be followed in the selection of outsourced staff which is provided by a third party.”

At present, around 10 thousand outsourced staff members are working in various state government departments. They are mostly technical and engineering staff at the Block and District level. A large chunk of them are data entry operators in electricity department and general administration sections.

Off late, many lower to mid-level jobs in the state secretariat have been outsourced to agencies like Beltron, which provides technical skill development training to youths of the state.

Burdened by pension and other liability cost of regular employees, the state government has now started outsourcing various services to third parties.

However, the decision is bound to have repercussions when the next round of recruitment process under outsourced category would start as the onus of compliance may emerge an issue.

In accordance of the latest cabinet decision any company, outsourcing for the state government, will have to ensure SCs get 16%, STs 1%, EBCs 18% and OBCs 12% reservation in the jobs.

Coalition partners Janata Dal (United) and Bhartiya Janata party (BJP) have both hailed the government’s decision but opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has called it a farce to create illusion among voters.

JD(U) general secretary Shyam Razak said that government’s decision would enhance employment opportunities for OBCs and dalits and it might prove a step towards reservation in the private sector.

However, RJD spokesman Shakti Singh Yadav questioned the intent of the government by saying that only a few hundred jobs are outsourced and it won’t have any significant meaning. He demanded reservation in allocation of pattas and contracts also.