New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that contract workers hired from third-party service providers are not entitled to the same employment benefits as permanent employees. A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Vipul Pancholi observed that such equality would undermine the fundamental principles of public employment and the transparent recruitment process.
The court observed that permanent employment in government service cannot be equated with contract employment through contractors. While hiring permanent employees, it is done through a transparent process that ensures equal opportunity to all eligible candidates, the top court noted.
However, hiring contract employees is at the discretion of the contractor and, therefore, the two are different in law, the court said.
The court's observation was in the case of sanitation workers hired by various contractors in the Nandyal Municipal Corporation in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.