Haryana Government’s Exploitative Temporary Employment Policy as Hidden Cruelty against Unemployed Youth | Som Nath & M.M. Goel

In the diverse nation of India including Haryana, where the principles of socio-economic justice and equal opportunities are enshrined in the constitution, the reality for many young job seekers paints a starkly different picture. The government’s increasing reliance on part-time, temporary, and contractual employment for its workforce is not only an economic issue but a matter of ethical concern, amounting to what can be described as cruelty against the unemployed youth. The Haryana Government provides passports free of cost to all the students studying in their final year of Higher Education in the state of Haryana. It is a confession that the government has failed to do justice to the youth to get employment in Haryana. Recently 1500 Contractual Assistant Professors got relief from the sword of retrenchment with a historic halt in the recruitment process by the Government of Haryana working in 15 Universities for 15 years. The Assistant Professors already working in the Universities on the designations of Temporary/Contractual/Part-time/Visiting faculty demanded a policy of regularization and service security and after that, regular recruitment should be done. There is a huge shortage of staff in the University, the contract Assistant Professors have been serving in the University at very low salaries and apart from teaching in the Universities, they are also working in all the committees constituted for administrative and academic purposes. It is pertinent to mention that the Haryana government has been making policies to confirm the employees in the years 2003, 2006, 2011 and 2014. The Haryana government itself has given 58 years of service security to the guest teachers of schools in 2019 when service security can be given in schools. If so, it should also be given to temporary teachers of colleges and universities so that everyone can get justice.

In the present economic scenario of Haryana, their percentage has grown from 20.5 percentage to 30.2 percentage in rural areas and in urban from 15.3 percentage to 24.7 percentage. In terms of number, the female contractual workers have grown from 5,000 to 8,000 in rural parts and from 30,000 to 42,000 in urban parts of Haryana alone. For males, rural contractual increased from 20.5 percentage to 30.2 percentage and in urban from 15.3 percentage to 24.7 percentage. For male contractual workers, rural increased from 5,000 to 8,000, whereas in urban it rose from 30,000 to 42,000. Similar trends of growth are observed in rural and urban regions in India. The unemployment in India as well as in Haryana has grown (PLFS, 2022-23, Haryana youth unemployment was 17.5 percent twice of India, all ages unemployment was 6.1 percent almost double of India and same scenario was there with 23.3 percent youth unemployment, 9.1 percent unemployment for all ages almost two times more than India in PLFS, 2021-22). Table 1 and figure 1 to 3 show the trends for the same.

Table 1 Unemployment Trends in India and Haryana

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, [2017-2023].

Figure 1 Unemployment Trends in India and Haryana

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, [2017-2023].

The labour market is bound to get NAIRU which further depends on the intersection of Real Bargained Wage Rate (determined by workers’ wage setting equation which includes unemployment, unemployment benefits and wage expectations and displacement cost as the determinants) and Feasible real wage rate (FWR: which incorporates, Productivity, mark up ratio and cost of production as the determinant). If unemployment is high as in Haryana, then workers are bound to get less wage without job security.

Figure 2

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, [2017-2023].
Figure 3

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, [2017-2023].

The Indian Labour market is imperfect (imperfect competition should be taken to mean that employer or worker or both get some rents from an existing employment relationship, Manning Alan, 2011), so that we may have NAIRU (Non-Accelerating inflation rate of unemployment: Equilibrium of imperfect labour market) instead of NRU i.e., Natural rate of unemployment (Equilibrium of competitive labour market).

The issues related to this are:

Plight of Youth

Unemployment remains a significant challenge in India including Haryana, with millions of young people entering the job market each year. Desperate for employment, these individuals often have no choice but to accept positions that offer minimal job security, lower wages, and limited benefits. The government’s use of temporary and contractual jobs exacerbates this situation, leaving many young workers in a precarious state, struggling to make ends meet without the assurance of stable, long-term employment.

Economic Injustice

The practice of hiring on a temporary or contractual basis undermines the very foundation of socio-economic justice. These temporary arrangements typically offer lower wages compared to permanent positions, creating a class of working poor who are employed but unable to secure a decent standard of living. This disparity contradicts the ideals of equal opportunity and economic justice that are supposed to guide the nation’s employment policies.

Socialistic Welfare and Noble Employment

India prides itself on being a socialistic welfare nation, committed to the well-being of all its citizens. As such, the government, as a noble employer, is expected to lead by example, ensuring fair and just employment practices. However, by perpetuating a system that exploits young workers through temporary and contractual jobs, the government is failing in its role. This exploitation not only affects the economic prospects of the youth but also undermines their trust in the system and their sense of dignity.

 Call for Permanent Employment

There is an urgent need for the government to address this issue by creating more permanent, regular vacancies that provide job security and adequate wages. Filling these positions would not only help alleviate the economic struggles of many young Indians but also demonstrate the government’s commitment to fair employment practices and social welfare. By doing so, the government can help restore faith in the public sector as a model employer and reinforce the principles of socio-economic justice.

Towards an Equitable Employment Policy

To achieve this, a comprehensive employment policy is required, one that prioritizes the creation of permanent jobs and reduces reliance on temporary and contractual employment. Such a policy should include measures to:

Increase Public Sector Recruitment: Regularly conduct recruitment drives to fill permanent vacancies across various government departments.

Ensure Fair Wages: Implement wage standards that ensure all employees, regardless of their employment status, receive a living wage.

Provide Job Security: Offer job security to all employees by converting temporary and contractual positions into permanent ones.

Enhance Training and Development: Invest in training and development programs to improve the employability of young workers and help them secure stable, long-term employment.

In brief, the current trend of part-time, temporary, and contractual employment in the government sector is a form of cruelty against the unemployed youth of India including Haryana. The government must take immediate action to rectify this situation by providing permanent, secure employment opportunities that align with the principles of socio-economic justice and equal opportunity. By doing so, India including Haryana can truly live up to its ideals as a socialistic welfare state and ensure a brighter, more equitable future for its young citizens. Given this, the Law can help to get rid of this situation however, non-compliance of law will again be there until/unless the market be the competitive. Therefore, need based restructuring (Law, ethics and market-based solution) in the labor market of India and Haryana is required.

(Authors: Dr.Somnath is Assistant Professor Department of Economics Guru Jambeshwar University Hisar and member of the team in eNM Research Lab Global Centre for Needonomics: Professor M.M. Goel is three-time Vice-Chancellor known as Propounder Needonomics School of Thought, eNM Research Lab; Global Centre for Needonomics and is superannuated Professor of Economics from Kurukshetra University)