Chennai, Oct 29:
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary P E Shanmugam has urged the Tamil Nadu government to withdraw its order appointing the Overseas Manpower Corporation Limited (OMCL) as the nodal agency for outsourcing contractual employees across government departments and public sector undertakings.
In a statement, Shanmugam said the decision could seriously undermine opportunities for permanent employment and adversely affect the future of thousands of young people waiting for government jobs.
The State government has issued an order designating the Overseas Manpower Corporation, a Tamil Nadu government undertaking based in Chennai, as the principal agency to meet the manpower requirements of government departments, public sector undertakings and associated organisations through outsourcing arrangements.
Shanmugam pointed out that the government had more than five lakh vacant posts, while only a few thousand vacancies were being filled. He said the failure to undertake regular recruitment was affecting public services and leaving job aspirants uncertain about their future.
He recalled that the Overseas Manpower Corporation was originally established in 1978 to facilitate employment opportunities abroad. Its scope was expanded in 2012 to facilitate outsourcing for domestic employment requirements. It was subsequently included in the State government’s list of recognised outsourcing agencies in 2024.
The latest decision to make it the principal agency for manpower requirements across government departments and public sector undertakings represents a further expansion of its role, he said.
Describing the policy as an extension of the concept of a flexible labour market, Shanmugam alleged that the government was moving away from regular recruitment and increasingly relying on outsourced manpower.
He also raised concerns over the impact of the arrangement on reservation policies. According to him, recruitment through outsourcing agencies could weaken the effective implementation of reservation for Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, reducing constitutional safeguards to formal provisions without adequate representation in employment.
The CPI(M) leader said the government should function as a model employer by ensuring dignified employment and job security rather than facilitating arrangements that could benefit private manpower agencies.
He also referred to the TVK’s election promise that employees who had completed five years of temporary service in government departments, educational institutions and public sector organisations would be made permanent.
Shanmugam said the latest outsourcing decision appeared contrary to that assurance.
Although the Overseas Manpower Corporation is a government undertaking, it would engage private agencies to fulfil the manpower requirements, he alleged. Under the proposed arrangement, recruitment, salary payments, provident fund contributions and Employees’ State Insurance benefits would be handled through outsourcing agencies.
He expressed concern that workers recruited through this system might not have a direct employment relationship with the government departments or public sector organisations in which they would actually work.
This, he said, could leave employees without adequate guarantees concerning service conditions, job security and other employment benefits.