Halt removal of contractual govt employees in Odisha: BMS

THe Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has written to Odisha chief government minister Mohan Charan Majhi to hold the effectuation of a recent determination to transfer thousands of contractual employees across government sectors which had outsourced labour.The group, which is an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), warned that it will be”compelled to intensify its indefinite democratic agitations across the state” if the demands went unaddressed.The letterfollowed BMS’s talks on the matter with state deputy CM and power minister KVS Deo, which were held on Sunday. Referring to the retrenchment of 1500 workers, the BMS has cautioned that it will have severe consequences on the crucial public utility and industrial sectors.The group said that the meeting with Deo failed to reach any meaningful or satisfactory conclusion. “Given the absolute deadlock and the rising unrest among the working class, your personal, immediate intervention has become unavoidable,” the letter said.“All contract, temporary, and outsourced workers who have been arbitrarily removed must be reinstated immediately with full back wages and continuity of service,” it added.The group also demanded that the state formulate and implement a comprehensive “Odisha Outsourcing Model” to legally guarantee absolute job security and standard service conditions for all contract, outsourced, and contractual employees, and strictly prevent private contractors or management from engaging in arbitrary terminations.“This mass displacement is pushing thousands of local families into deep financial distress, extreme poverty, and mental trauma, entirely defeating the vision of “Reverse Migration” and sustainable local employment in the state. The impact of removing experienced, skilled, and long-serving technical manpower is already showing devastating effects on public utility infrastructure,” the BMS said.It has also pointed out that the sudden reduction in technical manpower at Tata Power, which distributes power in the state, had led to regular maintenance, emergency breakdown restorations, and transformer upkeep in both rural and urban areas being severely compromised.‘The absolute apathy of the employers and the failure of today’s official talks have caused immense resentment among the working mass. The ongoing Satyagraha agitation, which commenced on May 18, 2026, in front of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, is rapidly intensifying. If left unresolved, this will trigger widespread, volatile industrial and social unrest across the state, jeopardizing the peaceful industrial climate necessary for Odisha’s development,” warned the letter.