The Gujarat High Court, on Thursday, stayed a condition prescribed in a government resolution dated May 20 whereby it has decided to terminate the contracts of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) employees and place them under private agencies, to whom the work has been outsourced the work. The court also issued a notice and sought a reply from the state government after 40 MGNREGA workers approached it against the government resolution. During the hearing on Thursday, counsel for the petitioners AS Asthavadi vehemently argued against the government resolution. He submitted that MGNREGA is a scheme of permanent nature and necessary staff is required for its effective implementation on a permanent basis, or at least till the scheme is in operation. However, the state government has adopted a policy of employing the staff on contractual basis for a period of 11 months, which is in clear violation of the spirit of the Act. He argued that Section 18 of the Act mandates that the state government shall provide the necessary staff and technical support required for the implementation of the scheme. The lawyer submitted that neither the Act nor the central government had directed the state to hire such staff on contractual basis for a limited period of 11 months, or to hire new ones by discontinuing the older staff. Asthavadi said the petitioners, all contractual MGNREGA employees, were hired by the state government in 2014 as per the recruitment procedure and their contracts have been renewed from time to time till date. Some of the employees who were working before 2014 hiring had challenged the new hirings before the high court, which directed the government to allow the petitioners to continue their job until the scheme ends. As per the May 20 government resolution, the services of contractual employees who had earlier not moved court will be terminated and such positions will be filled up through outsourcing agencies. This led the contractual employees to move court against the resolution. It has been submitted that disturbing the employees every 11 month affects the scheme implementation and also amounts to wastage of public funds used for imparting training to them. Course Of Action

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