In what is being seen as a revival of shattered dreams for contractual staffers working in the various departments, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has sent a proposal to the state government’s urban development department (UDD) seeking the inclusion of this workforce, mainly computer operators into the permanent pay-roll as regular recruits.
After duly conducting walk-in interviews of eligible candidates and completing other mandated selection procedures, 87 computer operators and four stenographers were hired by the civic administration on a contractual basis in February 2007. However, the strength of contractual staff narrowed down to 65 including 64 computer operators and one stenographer. Since then this workforce has been working in the Computer Facilitation Center (CFC) and rendering their services in other wings of the MBMC for more than 14 years. This apart from relentlessly working in elections, tax collections and other crucial government projects including Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Pulse Polio Drives, population and livestock census, without benefits and perks being given to their permanent counterparts.
In response to demands made by leader of house Prashant Dalvi, the civic administration has now sent a fresh proposal to the UDD seeking its nod for the absorption process. “In today’s era of digitization, we need tech-savvy staffers to cater to the needs of the citizens. These computer operators and stenos have a rich work experience of 14 years and they can prove to be an asset for the civic body. The proposal has been sent and we expect a positive response from the state government authorities,” said Dalvi.
This crucial workforce has been unsuccessfully demanding their inclusion in the permanent pay-roll for the past several years. Notably, similar proposals have met with a cold shoulder response from the state government earlier, this despite an unanimous nod from MBMC’s general body.
