Haryana has approximately 1.20 lakh employees engaged through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited (HKRN) and its predecessor outsourcing schemes. These workers — from healthcare staff and teachers to clerks and technical personnel — form the backbone of government service delivery across the state. Yet for decades, they have occupied a precarious legal position: performing permanent duties on temporary terms, with no job security and limited benefits. This article examines the rapidly evolving legal framework governing their rights, including the landmark Security of Service Act, 2024, its 2025 amendment, and the historic High Court judgment of December 31, 2025.
The Evolution of Contractual Employment in Haryana
Phase 1: The Outsourcing Era (Pre-2022)
Before HKRN, government departments engaged workers through private outsourcing agencies under the Part-1 and Part-2 outsourcing policies. These arrangements were widely criticized for:
- Lack of transparency in selection — contractors often hired based on personal connections rather than merit
- Exploitation by contractors who took a significant cut (sometimes 10-15%) of workers’ wages as “service charges”
- Arbitrary termination without notice or reason — workers could be replaced overnight
- Denial of basic labour protections — no ESI, no PF, no maternity benefits
- No direct relationship with the government — workers were technically employees of the contractor, making legal recourse extremely difficult
Workers under this system had virtually no legal standing. They could not claim regularization because they were not “government employees” in any formal sense. Their only employer on paper was the outsourcing agency.
Phase 2: HKRN Establishment (April 1, 2022)
The Haryana government established HKRN (Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited) as a centralized body for recruitment and deployment, aiming to eliminate contractor exploitation and bring transparency to the system.
Key features of the HKRN system:
- Direct engagement — workers are deployed by HKRN directly to departments, eliminating the contractor middleman
- Points-based selection — new deployments made through a transparent, merit-based selection process. As of May 2025, the system operates on 80 points across 8 parameters including educational qualifications (maximum 25 points), additional qualifications (10 points), age (10 points), family income (10 points), experience (10 points), and others
- Reservations applied — 28% for Scheduled Castes (benefiting approximately 37,404 youth) and 32% for Backward Classes (benefiting approximately 41,376 youth)
- Migration of existing staff — contractual employees from outsourcing agencies were migrated to HKRN, preserving their service continuity
While HKRN brought structure and transparency, the fundamental problem of job insecurity remained. Workers still served on short-term contracts subject to renewal.
Phase 3: Legislative Protection (2024-2025)
The most significant development came with the enactment of the Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Service) Act, 2024, followed by the landmark High Court judgment in December 2025. Together, these developments have fundamentally altered the legal landscape.
The Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Service) Act, 2024
Legislative History
- August 14, 2024: The Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Tenure) Ordinance, 2024 was promulgated by the Governor
- November 2024: The Haryana Assembly passed the Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Service) Bill, 2024
- November 29, 2024: The Act (Haryana Act No. 17 of 2024) received the Governor’s assent
- April 5, 2025: The Haryana Contractual Employees (Security of Service) Amendment Act, 2025 (Act No. 12 of 2025) received assent, deemed effective from January 31, 2025
Scope and Applicability
The Act applies to all contractual employees deployed through HKRN across Haryana government departments, including those originally engaged under the Outsourcing Policy Part-1 and Part-2. It extends to the whole of the State of Haryana.
Key Provisions in Detail
1. Job Security Until Superannuation (58 Years)
This is the Act’s central promise. Contractual employees can no longer be terminated at the mere whim of the department or upon expiry of a short-term contract. They have security of tenure until the age of 58 years — not full regularization, but a guarantee that they will not be dismissed without cause. This transforms their status from “at-will” employees to workers with substantive protection.
2. Remuneration
The remuneration framework under the Act:
- Base pay: Equal to the entry-level pay in the pay level of the corresponding regular post
- Additional remuneration: Based on completed years of service, as per the First Schedule of the Act
- Floor guarantee: Total remuneration cannot be less than what the employee was drawing on the date the Act came into effect
- Dispute resolution: If there is a dispute about which regular post corresponds to the contractual position, the Chief Secretary decides in consultation with Additional Chief Secretary (Finance)
3. Benefits Under the First Schedule
- Ayushman Bharat Chirayu Extension Scheme health coverage (or as revised by government from time to time)
- Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity at rates equivalent to the Code on Social Security, 2020
- Maternity Benefits as per the Code on Social Security, 2020
- Ex-gratia compassionate financial assistance or compassionate appointment through HKRN, per notified government policy
The 2025 Amendment (Act No. 12 of 2025)
Key changes introduced by the amendment:
- Replaced “in a calendar year” with “during a period of” — providing flexibility in computing service-related benefits
- Extended benefits to guest teachers under the Haryana Guest Teachers Service Act, 2019
- Ensured guest teachers receive Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity, Maternity Benefits, Compassionate Financial Assistance, and Compassionate Appointment
The Landmark High Court Judgment: December 31, 2025
In what may be the most significant judicial pronouncement on contractual employment in Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 31, 2025, delivered a sweeping judgment directing the Haryana Government to regularize long-serving daily-wage, contractual, and ad hoc employees under applicable state policies (1993, 1996, 2003, and 2011) with all consequential benefits.
Key Holdings by Justice Sandeep Moudgil
1. The State is Not a Private Employer
The State is a “trustee of public power” and cannot treat its workforce the way a private employer might. When employees keep essential services running year after year, the Constitution does not permit the State to “consume their labour as if it were an endlessly renewable commodity.”
2. Looking Past Nomenclature
The court rejected the government’s attempt to use labels like “contractual,” “daily wage,” or “project staff” as escape routes from constitutional obligations. The Constitution asks:
What is the true character of the engagement, and what does fairness require of a welfare State that has enjoyed benefit of such service for a considerably long period?
3. Regularization of 10+ Year Employees
The court directed that contractual staff who had completed 10 years of service as on December 31, 2025, but were not covered under existing regularization policies, must also be regularized. Even if posts were not sanctioned, the government must create them.
4. Financial Relief
Full salary from the year employees became eligible for regularization, along with 6% simple interest, must be paid within eight weeks of the judgment.
5. Uma Devi Distinguished
The court carefully distinguished the present cases from State of Karnataka v. Uma Devi (2006), which bars regularization of “illegal” appointments. Justice Moudgil clarified that Uma Devi also recognized a “humane and constitutionally mandated one-time regularisation exercise” for irregular (not illegal) appointments. Citing M.L. Kesari v. State of Karnataka (2010), the court stressed that this one-time exercise is not complete “until all such eligible employees are considered.”
Implementation Status (February 2026)
As of February 2026, the Haryana government faces a significant implementation challenge. The government has been uploading documents of contractual employees on a portal to provide “job security” under the Security of Service Act — ensuring contract employees remain on contract until age 58. The regularization direction from the High Court is a separate, parallel obligation. Employees must track both developments closely.
Constitutional Protections
Article 14: Right to Equality
The principle of “equal pay for equal work” — recognized as a constitutional value in Randhir Singh v. Union of India (1982) — becomes directly relevant when contractual employees perform identical duties as regular employees but receive a fraction of the pay. While the Supreme Court in State of Punjab v. Jagjit Singh (2017) clarified that equal pay is not an absolute right and depends on various factors, it held that contractual employees performing the same duties as regular employees are entitled to the “minimum of the regular pay scale.”
Article 16: Equality of Opportunity
Arbitrary denial of regularization to employees who have served for years violates the guarantee of equal opportunity in public employment. Selective application of regularization policies — granting benefits to some categories while denying them to others in identical situations — “squarely invites interference,” as the December 2025 judgment held.
Article 21: Right to Life and Dignity
The Supreme Court has expanded Article 21 to include the right to livelihood (Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, 1985) and the right to live with dignity. Keeping employees in perpetual contractual status while they perform permanent duties undermines both. The December 2025 judgment recognized this constitutional dimension explicitly.
Security of Service vs. Regularization: Understanding the Difference
This distinction is crucial for every contractual employee to understand:
| Aspect | Security of Service (Act, 2024) | Regularization (HC Judgment, 2025) |
| Nature | Legislative protection | Judicial direction |
| Employee Status | Remains contractual | Becomes regular government employee |
| Job Security | Yes, until 58 years | Yes, as regular employee |
| Pay | Entry-level of corresponding post + increments per First Schedule | Full regular pay scale with all increments and allowances |
| Pension | No pension; gratuity only | Full pensionary benefits |
| Seniority | Not counted for regular cadre seniority | Counted from eligibility date |
| Promotion | No promotion rights | Eligible for promotion in regular cadre |
| Health | Ayushman Bharat Chirayu | Full government medical benefits |
| Transfer | HKRN deployment policy | Departmental transfer policy |
Important: Both operate on parallel tracks. An employee can have security under the Act while simultaneously pursuing regularization through the judicial process. They are not mutually exclusive.
Categories of Contractual Employees and Their Specific Rights
MPHW / ANM / Staff Nurses / Pharmacists
Healthcare workers deployed through HKRN in government hospitals and primary health centres. These workers are covered under the Security of Service Act. ESI pharmacists have additionally been pursuing nomenclature parity with Health Department pharmacists for pay scale purposes.
Guest Teachers
The 2025 amendment specifically extended Security of Service Act benefits to guest teachers under the Haryana Guest Teachers Service Act, 2019. They now receive gratuity, maternity benefits, compassionate assistance, and compassionate appointment rights.
Panchayat and Municipal Workers
Workers engaged by gram panchayats and municipal bodies through HKRN. Their regularization status depends on whether the engaging body is covered under the applicable regularization policies (1993, 1996, 2003, 2011).
Technical and Clerical Staff
Computer operators, data entry operators, clerks, and technical assistants deployed across departments. These form a large category and are fully covered under both the Security of Service Act and the High Court judgment (if they meet the 10-year service criterion).
Practical Advice for Contractual Employees
- Preserve all records meticulously: Keep certified copies of appointment orders, joining reports, salary slips, experience certificates, deployment orders, and all government orders related to your service. These documents are crucial for any regularization claim. If you don’t have copies, use RTI to obtain them from your department.
- Monitor policy changes actively: Stay updated on government notifications regarding HKRN policies, regularization exercises, and amendments to the Security of Service Act. Subscribe to the Haryana Government Gazette. Follow official HKRN announcements.
- File written representations: If you believe you are eligible for regularization under any policy (1993, 1996, 2003, 2011, or the December 2025 judgment), file a detailed written representation to the Head of Department through proper channel. Send by registered post and keep acknowledgment.
- Form or join employee associations: Collective petitions carry significantly more weight both administratively and in court. The December 2025 judgment itself was the result of collective petitions by employee groups.
- Use RTI strategically: File RTI applications to obtain the number of sanctioned vs. filled posts in your department; list of employees regularized under various policies; government orders on regularization applicable to your category; and your own service record.
- Upload documents on government portals: If the government is conducting a document verification exercise (as in early 2026), ensure you upload all documents by the deadline. Non-compliance could be used against you later.
- Seek legal advice promptly: If your representation is rejected, or if you face termination, non-renewal, or any adverse action, consult an advocate experienced in service matters immediately. Delay can be prejudicial — courts may dismiss belated claims.
- Calculate your service period: Carefully calculate your total service period as on December 31, 2025. If you have completed 10+ years, you may be directly covered by the High Court judgment’s regularization direction.
Conclusion
The legal landscape for contractual employees in Haryana is evolving at unprecedented speed. The HKRN reforms, the Security of Service Act 2024, and the landmark High Court judgment of December 2025 represent the most significant milestones in the history of contractual employment in the state. But legislation and court orders are only as good as their implementation.
Contractual employees must remain vigilant, informed, and organized. Know your rights under both the Act and the judgment. Preserve your records. Join collective efforts. Use every administrative and legal remedy available to ensure that the promises of these legal developments translate into real improvements in your lives and the lives of your families.
The Constitution of India does not permit a welfare state to treat its workers as disposable. As Justice Moudgil observed: the State is a trustee of public power. Hold it to that standard.