Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has decided to appoint employees on an outsourcing basis in government departments and public sector undertakings.
The Overseas Employment Corporation has been appointed as the agency to select outsourcing employees.
Employees needed for various departments of the Tamil Nadu government are selected through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC); government school teachers, government polytechnic lecturers, and government college assistant professors are selected through the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB); and police, fire service, and prison department personnel are selected through the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB).
Similarly, medical personnel including nurses and doctors are selected through the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB).
In this situation, the responsibility for carrying out recruitment work for government departments and public sector undertakings on an outsourcing basis has been entrusted to the government public sector undertaking, the Overseas Employment Corporation.
In this regard, a government order issued by Finance Department Secretary M.A. Siddique states, “The Governor has appointed the Overseas Employment Corporation as the agency to select personnel required by government departments, state public sector undertakings, and related institutions on an outsourcing basis.”
The foreign employment agency operating in Guindy, Chennai, is currently handling the recruitment of personnel such as nurses, doctors, engineers, and technicians for foreign companies.
If outsourcing-based appointments are made only through a government agency, there is a risk that the number of posts filled through boards such as the TNPSC, TRB, and MRP will decrease in the future.
Regarding this, Tamil Nadu Government Employees Union state president Amirthakumar said: The TVK had promised that if it came to power, outsourcing-based appointments would be abolished. However, instead of fulfilling that promise, it has decided to implement the outsourcing system.
Is this the change the people wanted? Under this new system, all appointments currently being made in government departments through private agencies—such as office assistants, nurses, sanitation workers, and junior assistants—will henceforth be made through an overseas employment agency.
Therefore, opportunities for direct appointments in government departments will decrease for young people. From the government’s perspective, this measure could reduce expenses. At the same time, errors in government administration will increase.
Permanent government employees have a sense of responsibility, but outsourced employees will not. If any mistake occurs, they cannot be questioned.
With the outsourcing recruitment system in government departments, the dream of ‘government jobs’ for lakhs of young people will remain only a dream. Therefore, the Tamil Nadu government should immediately abandon the outsourcing system and swiftly fill the 5 lakh vacant posts in government departments. He said this.