Bombay HC Orders VVMC to Regularise Contract Staff

The Bombay High Court has directed the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC) to regularise and grant permanency to long-serving contractual healthcare staff within two weeks.

The court's order came while hearing a batch of petitions from medical staff, doctors, nurses, and administrative employees who had been appointed through selection procedures and had served the civic body continuously for eight to 11 years.

Despite performing regular duties, these employees were repeatedly engaged on six-month contracts with technical one-day breaks between appointments. The court noted that the employees had also rendered services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe set aside State and VVMC directives requiring the contractual medical personnel to clear a fresh written examination as a precondition for their absorption into regular service.

The court observed that the creation of posts and filling vacancies in accordance with applicable rules should be the norm, while contractual appointments for very short durations should be an exception.

The judges said that such prolonged ad-hoc employment creates uncertainty and causes considerable prejudice to employees who continue working for years on temporary contracts.

The bench also highlighted the unemployment situation in the country and said citizens could not be faulted for accepting contractual or temporary public employment.

The court directed the State Government to issue appropriate directions to municipal corporations to do away with long-term contractual appointments and adopt a comprehensive policy for regularisation.

The bench said it hoped VVMC and the State Government would ensure that “ad-hocism in public employment [is] consigned to history”.

The court's order is significant as it emphasizes the need for public bodies to create permanent posts through a robust recruitment mechanism instead of perpetuating systemic ad-hocism.

The Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation has been given two weeks to comply with the court's order and regularise the long-serving contract staff.

This move is expected to bring relief to the contractual employees who have been working for years without job security.

The court's directive is also likely to have implications for other municipal corporations in the state, which may be required to adopt a comprehensive policy for regularisation of contract staff.

In conclusion, the Bombay High Court's order is a significant step towards ending ad-hocism in public employment and ensuring that employees are given job security and permanency.

The order is a victory for the long-serving contract staff of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation, who can now look forward to a more secure future.