Amid growing restiveness among government employees, seen in their unprecedented protest rally on Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party government is set to table a legislation to regularise nearly 65,000 outsourced and contractual employees.While the non-release of pending dearness allowance (DA) was the central flashpoint of the rally, employees also demanded regularisation of contractual and outsourced staff.Despite back-channel talks initiated by senior officials, unions representing over 100 groups have refused to relent. “Our call for the mahabandh on August 27 (the day their representatives have been called for a meeting with CM Bhagwant Singh Mann) remains. The government must fulfil the commitments made to employees,” said Sukhchain Singh Khera, convener of the Sanjha Mullazam Morcha.The government had initially prepared the Punjab State Outsourced Personnel (Transition to Contractual Engagement) Ordinance, which the Governor advised be brought as a Bill in the Vidhan Sabha. The Cabinet approved it last week, and after the Governor’s consent two days ago (as it is a Money Bill), it will be tabled on Monday.The Bill seeks to provide a legal route for bringing outsourced employees under the government’s contractual framework. It is part of a two-stage plan to end prolonged outsourcing. The government has said 65,048 outsourced employees across 51 departments fall under the reforms. Group C and Group D employees completing five years of continuous service will be eligible for contractual employment, while those in hazardous categories will qualify after three years. Employees completing 10 years of contractual service will then be considered for absorption against regular posts.The move revives a decade-long struggle for regularisation. In 2016, the SAD-BJP government passed the Punjab Ad hoc, Contractual, Daily Wage, Temporary, Work Charged and Outsourced Employees Welfare Act, but it was never implemented due to eligibility conditions and litigation.In November 2021, the Congress government introduced the Punjab Protection and Regularisation of Contractual Employees Bill, which failed to become law after the Governor withheld assent.