The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) has terminated the services of 33 employees who were recruited during the Covid-19 pandemic for contact tracing and home quarantine duties. These staff members, including data-entry operators, helpers and multi-task workers, were brought on in March 2020 under a ‘Special Grant under Covid-19’ to manage pandemic-related responsibilities.
With their contracts expiring on 31 July, MC officials opted not to renew them, citing financial constraints. The monthly expenditure on the group was about Rs 8 lakh, and officials noted that after the Union Territory administration formally declared the end of Covid-19, Covid grant funds—though Rs 18 crore still remain—could no longer be used for salaries.
The decision has stirred discontent among city councillors. In a recent general house meeting, members approved an agenda to clear pending salaries for these employees, which have been unpaid since February 2025. Councillors argued that the move to terminate their services contradicts the House’s stance.
This is the latest in a series of manpower cuts by the civic body. In December 2024, the MC released around 200 contractual employees aged 60 and above. Since then, it has also let go of nine sanitary inspectors, 90 outsourced fire and rescue staff, and 332 outsourced multi-task workers at tubewells across the city.
The downsizing comes amid growing concerns over ballooning expenses for outsourced manpower and follows Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria’s directive to focus on revenue improvement through workforce rationalisation.
Data presented in November 2024 showed MC’s staff strength rose sharply from 8,587 in 2023-24 to 9,748 in 2024-25, with 1,161 hires—mostly contractual—made in just seven months, a figure that left councillors questioning the hiring process and staff deployment.
