Under the banner of the All Contractual Employees Union along with the support of the Joint Employees Front, contract employees on Thursday organised a protest rally in Sector 17, demanding job security and regularisation policies.

The protestors marching towards the governor’s house from Sector 17, were stopped by the police.

A five-member delegation later met sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Sanyam Garg and handed over the memorandum to him.

In line with the central government’s guidelines issued last month, the UT administration is set to abolish 1,735 posts in its 40 departments, which will leave an equivalent number of contractual employees jobless by March 31.

These employees, engaged in outsourcing and contractual roles for nearly two decades, have lacked a formulated and secure policy for job security from the administration. The absence of concrete policies, akin to those in other states and unfulfilled political promises, have left the future of these contractual employees uncertain.

Recently, the personnel department of the Chandigarh administration initiated the process of regular appointments by seeking vacancies from both government and non-government departments, encompassing contract and outsourcing positions.

The increasing number of contract positions in certain Chandigarh administration departments has led to issues, including employee relieving, salary withholding and lack of extensions.

In light of these challenges, the All Contractual Employees Union , Chandigarh, led by Chairman Bipin Sher Singh is urging the administration to establish a special cadre for job security or regularisation policies until retirement.