Gangtok, Feb 14: Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay on February 14 announced the Regularisation Policy 2024, promising to regularise over 20,000 temporary employees by February end working in different government sectors.

Addressing a gathering during the State Level Sonam Lochhar festival, CM Golay declared the policy, which is set to benefit a wide spectrum of workers including muster roll, Ad-hoc, One Family One Job, contractual, ICDS, ASHA workers and those employed under centrally sponsored schemes.

In his address, CM Golay highlighted the extensive consultations and meetings held prior to formulating the policy, indicating a  approach towards addressing the employment concerns of the state’s workforce.

The policy marks a significant shift from the previous 8-year tenure requirement to a 4-year policy, reflecting the government’s responsiveness to evolving needs.

On February 9 in Rangpo, Golay emphasized the government’s commitment to ensuring job security for workers across different sectors. “The Regularisation Policy 2024 is not merely an announcement but a law, with December 31, 2023, set as the deadline for implementation. Workers who have completed their requisite service tenure by this date are eligible for regularisation under the new policy”, said Golay.

Golay also promised 20,000 vacancies by February end as part of the new regularisation policy, claiming, “The vacancy was decided in the cabinet meeting recently and the opposition need not worry about how we create the vacancies and provide salaries”.

Golay also countered criticism against the policy by opposition parties, who have targeted the use of nomenclature ‘maybe’ in the government notification. “The opposition is countering the order of the government in terms of use of words. The mention of “maybe” is only subject to document scrutiny. 20,000 plus are getting regularized, the opposition is trying to not let the regularization happen. They have a conspiracy to oppose the same, they may go to court. The way they went for one family one job, where we defended the case in Sikkim High Court. But for OFOJ recruitment had not files, no process such as ours was followed by the previous government”, said Golay.

Also Read: What is the Lenten Season, and why is it significant for Catholics?

Also Watch