UT Administration Proposes Reclassification of PGI Chandigarh Services as Essential Under Haryana ESMA
Chandigarh: In a bid to ensure uninterrupted essential services, the Chandigarh Administration has written to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to inquire if any of its services should be classified as ‘essential’ under the newly adopted Haryana Essential Services (Maintenance) Act (ESMA), 1974.
This move comes in response to the UT administration's decision earlier this month to adopt the stricter Haryana ESMA, replacing the outdated East Punjab Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, of 1947. PGIMER recently witnessed strikes by healthcare professionals and other staff members.
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Speaking to TOI, a UT official informed, "For the full effect of the ESMA Act, a service must be designated as ‘essential'. While PGIMER health services were classified as ‘essential' under previous ESMA provisions, they need to be designated as ‘essential' again to be covered under the more stringent Haryana ESMA.”
The Haryana ESMA is a much stronger version of the older East Punjab Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1947, and includes provisions that make offences related to strikes in essential sectors non-bailable.
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According to TOI, unlike the existing provisions, which do not define ‘strike', the Haryana law defines ‘strike' as "the cessation of work by a body of persons employed in any employment or class of employment to which this Act applies, acting in combination, or a concerted refusal, or a refusal under a common understanding, of any number of persons, who are or were so employed to continue to work or to accept employment".
In a proactive step to prevent any disruptions in power supply, the Chandigarh administration invoked the provisions of Section 4A of the Haryana ESMA. The UT administrator has officially prohibited strikes within the engineering department, specifically the electricity wing, for a period of six months, effective immediately.
