Outsourced Workers Were Treated As 'Burden' Before 2017, Exploited By Firms: Adityanath As UP Launches UPCOS

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday launched the Uttar Pradesh Corporation for Outsource Services (UPCOS) to protect the rights of contract workers, stating that before 2017, outsourced workers were treated as a "burden" and exploited by firms allegedly linked to political parties and their relatives.

Addressing a gathering at the launch of the corporation, its portal and website, Adityanath said his government wanted to treat outsourced personnel as an "asset" and provide them with timely remuneration, social security and institutional protection.

"Before 2017, outsourced workers were considered a burden. Outsourcing firms linked to political parties and their relatives, who used to exploit workers. We did not want to consider them a burden. We consider them an asset," Adityanath said.

The remarks were an apparent attack on the previous Samajwadi Party government, which was in power in Uttar Pradesh before the BJP government took office in 2017.

The chief minister said the UPCOS would digitally integrate the management of the state's more than 3.5 lakh outsourced personnel and provide an institutional mechanism for protecting their rights.

"If I include their family members, this corporation is connected with the interests of around 17 to 20 lakh people. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all of you on its launch," he said. Adityanath said the government believed that removing social discrimination also required addressing economic discrimination.

"When a person is working, he should receive respect commensurate with his work. This is respect for labour -- receiving proper remuneration for one's hard work and a guarantee of social security," he said.

He said that more than 3.5 lakh outsourced workers previously had no guarantee of remuneration, health facilities, or protection in the event of accidents.

"There was no health facility. In case of an accident, there was nobody to look after them," he said, adding that the government had therefore decided to establish the corporation.

Adityanath said UPCOS would ensure that workers' rights were no longer dependent on the "favour of any individual" or middlemen.

"After this system comes into force, rights will no longer be granted at someone's discretion but will be earned through your hard work. The system will no longer depend on middlemen and information will not remain unclear," he said.

He said a dedicated portal would make relevant information available to workers and help them access details concerning their employment and entitlements.

"When a person receives his rights on time, the benefit is not limited to that individual. A child's education in his home becomes secure, a mother's medicines become secure, a daughter's future becomes secure, and a family gets the confidence that our hard work will never go to waste," he said.

The chief minister said the earlier system was divided among the employee, outsourcing agency and government department, forcing workers to approach different offices with their grievances.

"The relationship between the government and an employee cannot be limited to wages and work. It is a relationship of trust and responsibility," he said.

He said the new system would ensure timely payment of wages and protection of rights related to provident fund and insurance.

"Every outsourced worker should receive remuneration commensurate with his work. When remuneration is not commensurate with the work, it is not respect for labour but an insult to labour," Adityanath said..

Recalling interactions with outsourced employees in the past, he said some workers had told him that they received less than the remuneration officially indicated.

"Some would say Rs 11,000, some Rs 8,000, and some would say, 'Sir, they tell us it is Rs 9,000 but we receive only Rs 6,000. Where did the rest go?" he asked.

The chief minister also said that while artificial intelligence, automation and changing work practices were transforming employment, the dignity of human labour remained unchanged. He reiterated that in the next six months, one lakh youths will be given recruitment letters of government jobs.