Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 2 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday attended the launch event of the Uttar Pradesh Outsourced Services Corporation (UPCOS) portal and website.

It is a state-level, non-profit organisation that aims to regulate and safeguard the rights of outsourced workers. It promotes transparent hiring, guarantees timely direct salary payments, and provides social security benefits (EPF/ESI).

During this event, the ‘logo’ for the initiative was also unveiled, and checks were distributed to outsourced employees.

Adressing the event, the CM targeted previous governments, accusing them of undermining the outsourced workers.

“Governments prior to 2017 considered outsourced employees a burden; that is why the outsourced companies they had engaged belonged to their own party-affiliated relatives. They exploited workers in the name of recruitment and uniforms. We have not considered them a burden; we have considered them an asset to the state,” he said.

CM Yogi asserted that the state’s development journey under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has been made possible by the contribution of workers across sectors, whether permanent or outsourced.

Adressing the event, “The development journey of Uttar Pradesh that has been charted under the leadership of the Prime Minister, and the progress of Uttar Pradesh that is visible, has been able to move forward thanks to the strength and support of certain people–whether they are urban local body sanitation workers, or those working in various capacities across different locations in essential governance systems, whether permanent or outsourced–it is the result of their efforts.”

He said the Uttar Pradesh Outsourced Services Corporation is the government’s effort to ensure that every such worker receives “dignity and honour” befitting their contribution.

The Chief Minister said the relationship between the government and its employees was not merely transactional.

“The relationship between the government and employees is not merely about salary, but about trust. To maintain that trust, we believe that an employee’s time should not be spent only on paperwork. An employee should feel that a record of their good work is being maintained, that there is a mechanism to listen to their problems, and that they are not alone. They should receive their salary on time, every outsourced worker should get remuneration matching their hard work, and labour must be respected,” he said, adding that economic disparity must be addressed in order to eliminate social discrimination.

Adityanath said the new system would do away with dependence on middlemen, with a dedicated portal to provide information instead.

“Our employee will no longer remain alone; when a person receives timely benefits, the education of children in their home is secured, medicine for the mother is secured, and a family gets the assurance that their hard work will not go in vain,” he said.

He announced that the corporation would extend security cover to 20 lakh people. “We are going to provide security cover to 20 lakh people through this corporation,” Adityanath said. (ANI)