Chandigarh, Oct. 1 — Outsourced employees of the state fire services have launched a five-day strike across several districts, raising concerns over potential disruptions during the ongoing festival and paddy harvesting season.
Sukhditta Singh, an outsourced fire employee from Gidderbaha, said, “An outsourced employee gets just Rs 10,500 per month. We are unable to meet our expenses with this meagre amount. We have appealed to the state government several times to regularise our services. The AAP government had even promised that temporary employees would be regularised. The Haryana government is paying double the salary to its outsourced employees. We are observing the strike till October 5. If the state government doesn’t agree to a meeting, we will launch a massive protest in Jalandhar on Diwali.”
In Gidderbaha, out of 17 fire department employees, 11 are outsourced. Similar strikes have been reported in Malout and Gidderbaha in Muktsar district, though not in Muktsar town itself. Singh added that nearly 700 outsourced fire service employees are working across the state.
Locals have warned that the shortage of staff during this critical period could severely affect emergency response and fire safety services.
