Over 3 months on, Sirsa varsity employees await salaries

Nearly 500 employees working at Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU) in Sirsa, along with thousands of others employed under the Haryana Skill Development Corporation (HKRN) across the state, have not received their salaries for over three months.

Many of these workers are hired on contract or daily wage (DC) rates and have not yet been made permanent, despite government promises and official notifications stating that employees would be regularised after five years of service. The salaries paid to these employees are often much lower than those of regular government staff, causing significant financial difficulties.

The delay in salary payments has led to protests and sit-ins by HKRN employees in several districts, including Sirsa and Hisar. These workers perform important roles in government departments such as Health, Education, Transport and Water Supply. Concerns are growing that if the salary issue is not resolved soon, it could affect the delivery of public services in these departments.

MP Kumari Selja from Sirsa has voiced her concern over the ongoing crisis. In a statement released on Monday, she said the BJP government had promised permanent jobs to approximately 1,18,000 HKRN employees after five years of service but was yet to fulfill the promise. She said many employees received less pay than regular staff and that some could not apply for other jobs because they had passed the age limit. Selja demanded the immediate release of all pending salaries and urged the government to speed up the regularisation process.

She also criticised the mental and financial stress faced by these employees due to unpaid wages. Selja warned that the Haryana Congress would raise the issue strongly in the state Assembly and through public campaigns to fight for the rights of the affected workers.

Sharing their struggles, a female employee at CDLU said she was the sole breadwinner in her family but had not received her salary for many months. She said managing household expenses had become very difficult. Another employee, working as an electrician, said even though his salary was low, the delay for the last two to three months had forced him to take part-time work to support his family. He added that many employees were considering quitting their jobs because of this uncertain situation.

The ongoing delay in salaries and lack of job security continue to create hardships for HKRN workers and threaten essential government services in Haryana.

Haryana Tribune