Report by a correspondent of the Mazdoor Ekta Committee
On 2 September 2026, the Uttar Pradesh government established the Uttar Pradesh Outsource Services Corporation (UPCOS) for the recruitment of outsourced personnel in government departments. The government claims that this corporation will bring complete transparency to the recruitment process within government departments.
According to the government, all outsourced workers, whether skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled, will be paid fair wages. Salaries will be transferred directly to their bank accounts between the 1st and 5th of every month. Additionally, EPF and ESIC funds will be deposited at a set time, and employees will be able to view details online. Additionally, reservation will be provided to SC, ST, OBC, EWS, persons with disabilities and ex-military persons in accordance with the rules. For this entire process, the government will directly select authorized outsourcing agencies through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
An increasing variety of tasks in government departments are now being carried out by outsourced workers. These outsourced workers are appointed by a third-party agency or contractor to work in government departments. The contracting agency determines the contract duration, wages, and other benefits for the workers, for which the government bears no responsibility.
The Uttar Pradesh government itself acknowledges that outsourced workers employed in government departments have been subjected to large-scale injustice and exploitation. Workers are deprived of their legal wages, as well as ESI and Provident Fund benefits. Rampant irregularities and the acceptance of hefty bribes plague contract-based appointments in government departments.
According to a news report, approximately 11 lakh employees are working on a contractual basis across 93 departments of the Uttar Pradesh government. In recent times, contractual teachers, electricity department employees, health workers, and others have been continuously struggling for permanent employment. There are approximately 75,000 to 78,000 outsourced employees in the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (he electricity department), who are raising their voices for their rights.
11 lakh people are working on a contractual basis in Uttar Pradesh’s government departments, while approximately 11 lakh regular job positions remain vacant in the state. This clearly indicates that instead of making permanent appointments across departments, the government is hiring people on a contract basis. Even in the Uttar Pradesh Police’s emergency services, personnel are working on contractual basis. Similarly, there are approximately 98,000 contractual workers under the National Health Mission in the Health Department, while around 35,000 drivers and conductors are serving on a contractual basis in the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation.
By establishing the ‘Uttar Pradesh Outsource Services Corporation’, the Uttar Pradesh state government is effectively going to eliminate secure and permanent jobs. Today, millions of positions remain vacant in society’s most fundamental and essential sectors, such as education, health, electricity, and transport. Instead of filling these vacant posts through regular and permanent appointments, the government is resorting to outsourcing to safeguard the profits of the capitalists. A large number of workers will be forced to work extremely long hours for very low wages, without any social security.
The Uttar Pradesh government’s claim that the formation of this corporation will secure workers’ rights is completely misleading and false. The reality is quite the opposite. This is a calculated ploy to institutionalise and legitimise the brutal exploitation of workers under the contract labour system, and to strip them of their right to secure employment.