The Uttarakhand High Court in Nainital has called a state government secretary to appear before it. The reason is the governments failure to implement court orders about the regularization of employees engaged through Uttarakhand Purv Sainik Kalyan Nigam Limited (UPNL) also known as UPNL. The Uttarakhand government is in a standing legal battle with UPNL-sponsored workers over job security and equal pay. UPNL is a state-run corporation that provides staff mostly ex-servicemen and their dependents to government departments in Uttarakhand.

For years thousands of employees have sought regularization of their services. They argue that despite doing work to regular government employees many are still treated as contractual staff without job security, benefits or equal pay.

Background: A Years-Long Fight Over Regularization

In November 2018 the High Court ordered the state government to regularize employees within a year. The court also directed the government to give them pay scales and dearness allowance. The state government challenged this order in the Supreme Court. It was dismissed. Despite the courts order employee groups claim that the state government has not implemented it properly. The Uttarakhand UPNL Karamchari Sangh says the government has not framed rules for regularizing eligible employees.

The employee union alleges that some government departments have removed employees and issued fresh recruitment notifications for the same positions. This the union argues, goes against the High Courts rulings.

Repeated Non-Compliance Leads to Contempt Proceedings

According to the Uttarakhand UPNL Karamchari Sangh, which has pursued the matter through contempt proceedings, the state has still not framed clear rules for regularizing eligible employees years after the original order, even as many of them continue working in their positions.

The employee union further alleged that rather than complying with the court’s directions, some government departments had instead been removing UPNL employees and issuing fresh recruitment notifications for the same positions, a practice the union argues runs directly contrary to the spirit of the High Court’s earlier rulings.

These grievances led to a formal contempt petition, Uttarakhand UPNL Karamchari Sangh versus Radha Raturi, in which the High Court previously issued a civil contempt notice to the state’s Chief Secretary, seeking her response on the continued non-implementation of the regularization order.

The “Equal Work, Equal Pay” Order and Its Delayed Rollout

The “Equal Work, Equal Pay” Order and Its Delayed Rollout Adding another layer to the dispute, the state government issued a fresh government order on February 3, 2026, aimed at implementing the principle of “equal work, equal pay” for UPNL employees who had completed ten years of service. According to UPNL Karamchari Mahasangh president Vinod Godiyal, this order was meant to be implemented promptly, but even five months after its issuance, several government departments had still not renewed the contracts of eligible employees in line with the new order.

Godiyal alleged that the resulting delays had left affected employees struggling without salaries for as long as three months in some cases, with certain departments reportedly citing the absence of a separate government order specifically addressing salary payment as justification for the continued delay. He characterised this as inconsistent with the spirit of the High Court’s earlier directions, and the employee federation has since demanded that contract renewals be carried out immediately.

Separately, the federation has also called for the government to act on a related March 2026 cabinet proposal concerning the halting of commission deductions from UPNL employees’ salaries, an issue that has added further financial strain to the affected workforce according to union representatives.

Why the Secretary Has Now Been Summoned

The High Courts decision to summon the state secretary shows its frustration with the governments pace of implementation. The court wants accountability from senior government officials responsible for executing its orders.

Given that this dispute has already stretched across multiple rounds of litigation, spanning an original 2018 order, a failed Supreme Court challenge by the state, and subsequent contempt proceedings, the summoning of a secretary suggests the court is moving toward a more direct enforcement posture in an effort to compel compliance.

Why This Case Matters

The UPNL regularization dispute has broader significance beyond the specific employees involved, touching on wider questions about the use of contractual labour arrangements within India’s government departments and the legal protections owed to workers who perform sustained, government-equivalent duties without corresponding job security. Given UPNL’s specific role in employing ex-servicemen and their dependents, many of whom transition into these roles after completing military service, the outcome of this prolonged legal battle also carries particular significance for Uttarakhand’s veteran community.

What Happens Next

With the matter now escalated to a direct summons of a state secretary, attention will turn to how the Uttarakhand government responds and whether this latest judicial intervention finally results in concrete movement toward full implementation of the regularization and pay parity orders. Given the case’s lengthy history of delays and repeated legal setbacks for the state government’s position, employee representatives are likely to continue pressing for firm timelines and consequences should compliance not follow promptly.