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Today's read Punjab to end outsourcing in 51 departments, 65,000 workers to benefit · PM-SETU clears first ITI plan, Visakhapatnam cluster leads the revamp · 4 more items below.

Policy

Punjab to end outsourcing in 51 departments, 65,000 workers to benefit

HR Katha · Reported 4:30 pm IST

Punjab Cabinet approved a roadmap to dismantle outsourced staffing across 51 government departments. Over 65,000 workers stand to benefit. Group C and D outsourced staff with five years of continuous service shift to direct contractual engagement with the state. Hazardous-role workers qualify after three years. Ten years on contract opens a path to absorption against regular vacancies. Wages will go straight to bank accounts, removing intermediary agencies. SME read: any small contractor supplying labour to Punjab government clients should reread their staffing book.

Read in full at HR Katha →

Chhattisgarh HC, low-paid family job is not a bar to compassionate hire

The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that one family member's existing low-paid government job is not, by itself, a ground to deny compassionate appointment to a dependent after a service death. A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha upheld relief for the son of a sanitary worker who died in service at Ambikapur Municipal Corporation. The court held that authorities must look at actual family hardship, not the 2013 policy bar. SME read: a useful precedent for any employer rewriting compassionate appointment templates.

HR Katha · 9:04 am

Practice

Tamil Nadu makes Face ID attendance mandatory for HR department from 1 June

Tamil Nadu has made facial recognition the mandatory attendance method for staff of its Human Resources Management Department starting 1 June. The state is integrating Face ID with its HR Management platform to eliminate proxy attendance and reduce manual records. The government frames it as part of a wider digital governance push. The article also notes the standing debate over privacy and surveillance. SME read: any small firm shopping for a biometric attendance tool now has a public-sector reference point and the privacy questions that come with it.

HR Katha · 6:00 pm

Hiring

Infosys share of under-30 staff falls to 50.7 per cent, a 15-year low

Infosys ended FY26 with 50.7 per cent of its 3,28,594-strong workforce aged 30 or below, the lowest share in at least 15 years and down from 53 per cent the year before. The 31 to 50 bracket rose to 45.7 per cent, a 15-year high. The trend has been building since FY23. Large Indian IT is moving away from pyramid-shaped fresher hiring toward mid-career and specialised talent. SME read: smaller firms that used to lose graduate hires to Infosys benches may find the market slightly less aggressive at entry level.

HR Katha · 6:04 pm