Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday launched the Andhra Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services (APCOS) to recruit employees to various departments in the government.
With this, the state government aims to transition away the previous practice of contractors controlling the outsourcing system, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement.
“APCOS was started to take care of recruitment and salaries of employees, including the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) and Pension Fund (PF) benefits, in tune with the state’s policy of providing 50 percent reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Backward Classes (BCs), minorities and women,” the statement said.
The Chief Minister launched the APCOS from his camp office in Tadepalli in Amaravati and formally handed over appointment letters to outsourcing staff working with the General Administration Department (GAD) at the Secretariat.
The state government said that 50,449 appointment letters will be handed over by the APCOS to employees working in various departments across the state.
“During my padayatra (walkathon), people working as outsourcing employees have come to me with many complaints about the recruitment process, delay in salaries, the bribes they have to pay for getting the job, the commissions they have to give for getting their pay and the like,” Chief Minister Jagan said.
“In some cases, the contractors were inflating the number of employees while carrying out the work with a lesser number of employees and pocketing the remaining money. Besides the commissions, there was no accountability on the deductions of ESI and PF,” he added.
The CMO statement quoted Jagan narrating one incident related to a contract for the cleaning and maintenance work of seven temples, which was hiked to Rs 32 lakh instead of the actual cost of Rs 7 lakh.
“By setting up APCOS, we will be putting an end to all such corruption. All recruitments and salaries will be done online on time and under the supervision of the concerned district collector. The incharge minister will also be in the committee, which will ensure that 50 percent reservations are provided to the weaker sections and women,” the Chief Minister said.
The move was one of the poll promises of Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had earlier said that third-party agencies or contractors, who would contract the outsourced workers with the government, were indulging in corruption.
“Now that there is no need for paying bribes or commissions, the employees should work sincerely and give their best,” the Chief Minister said as he spoke to some outsourcing employees via video conference on Friday.
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