There is a practice so entrenched in Indian public administration that it has become almost invisible. A government body needs workers. Instead of following the constitutionally mandated process of open recruitment, it hires on contract, daily wages, or ad hoc terms. Years pass. Sometimes decades. The worker performs the same duties as a regular employee, sits at the same desk, reports to the same officer, and keeps the institution running. On paper, however, they remain ‘contractual’. No pension. No provident fund. No job security. No career progression.
