Navi Mumbai, April 3 -- The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) general body has approved a resolution to absorb contractual and fixed-pay employees who have been providing essential civic services for nearly two decades in lieu of a meagre honorarium. The workers will be shifted to an interim pay scale on par with permanent employees and four authorities-the civic body, the municipal commissioner, the municipal secretary and the chief auditor-will implement the absorption process in phases, the resolution moved on Wednesday by leader of the house Sagar Naik said. Speaking in the house, Naik - nephew of Navi Mumbai strongman and forest minister Ganesh Naik - said the move would benefit 545 workers in the NMMC's education, health and transport departments. "These employees have been working on meagre honorarium for 10-18 years and sustained essential civic services. This is about giving them justice through a lawful, time-bound framework, not bypassing the system," he said. Ganesh Naik, whose push to absorb the contractual workers led to the NMMC resolution even as recruitment for 668 Class III and IV posts in the NMMC remains stalled, lauded the development. "If those delivering services remain dissatisfied, the city cannot function effectively," he told reporters. The move could entail an annual financial burden of around Rs.100 crore on the civic body, he noted. NMMC officials said the civic administration would now prepare an implementation roadmap and place its position before the Bombay High Court, which is hearing the contractual workers' plea for regularisation, filed in 2025 (Writ Petition No. 4932). The civic body had earlier opposed the workers' plea in court. "The next phase of regularisation will be guided by court directions," an NMMC official said, requesting anonymity. The resolution draws on observations made by the High Court in response to the workers' plea. Roles such as those performed by the petitioners are of a "perennial character" and those who had been in service for long should not be compelled to compete with younger candidates, the court had said. It had also indicated that such cases could be considered under a one-time scheme. According to figures presented in the House, of the 545 employees on fixed honorarium basis, 232 meet the eligibility criteria for absorption, while 212 would require further scrutiny and the remaining cases would have to be determined during final verification. Mayor Sujata Sutar said temporary workers had contributed significantly to the city's development and deserved stability. Municipal Commissioner Kailas Shinde maintained that the administration must act within the framework of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act. "This is not a private institution. I am bound by a legal framework," he said. "Appointments must comply with recruitment rules."...