Chandigarh:  Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann yesterday announced the services of 35,000 group ‘C’ and ‘D’ contractual and outsourcing employees in government departments would be regularised.

Mann said he has directed Chief Secretary Anirudh Tewari to prepare the draft of a Bill for regularising the services of the employees before the next session of the Assembly.

“We will approve the draft legislation in the assembly and regularise the employees engaged through contract and outsourcing, ” he said in a video message, saying this will be the government’s “historic decision”.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said contractual and outsourcing employees have been holding protests for a long time for the job regularisation. “There was no chowk (intersection) or water tank where they were not holding protest. I do not want lathicharge or turbans or chunnis of protesting staff to fall off, ” he said.

He said schools do not have teachers, while eligible teachers are protesting by climbing atop water tanks right outside the institutions for jobs. No job creation is needed for this. We will do that too, but we have to first fill the existing jobs.