Smt. Bala and Others vs State of Himachal Pradesh and Others

V.K. Sharma, J.—The petition has been filed on the following prayers vide para 7(i) and (ii):

(i) That the Respondents may very kindly be directed to regularise the services of the applicants w.e.f due date i.e completion of 7 years of service with all consequential benefits.

(ii) That the Respondents may also be directed to pay equal wages/salary to the applicants as to those of regular hands and arrears be ordered to be paid with interest.

In reply the Respondents have taken the following stand vide paras 6(i) and (ii):

(i) In reply to contents of this para it is admitted that the applicants were engaged as part time sweepers i.e two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening w.e.f 29.03.96, 10.08.96 and 17.01.94, respectively. All the applicants are working in the same capacity till date. The rest of the averment made in this para needs no reply being matter of record.

(ii) In reply to contents of this para it is submitted that the applicants are working in the Respondent department in the capacity of part time sweepers and were engaged only two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. The fact that applicants are part time worker does not result into creation of vested right to be regularized as a sweeper. It is worthwhile to mention here that as per policy of the Government an employee who is engaged as daily waged contingent paid worker initially shall be regularized after completion of eight years of service provided such an employee continuously worked for 240 days minimum in a calendar year. The copy of guidelines/directions issued by the government of Himachal Pradesh department of personnel in this regard is appended herewith and annexed as Annexure-''A''.

In view of the above, it is manifest that the Petitioners were initially engaged as part time Sweepers on 29.03.96, 10.08.96 and 17.01.94 respectively. Admittedly, as per the policy of the State Government a part time worker is vested with the status of a contingent/whole time worker after completion of 10 years of service and thereafter after putting in further service of 8 years is entitled for regularization. In the present case, the Petitioners had completed the requisite 10 years service as part time Sweepers on 28.03.2006, 09.08.2006 and 16.01.2004, respectively. Thus, they were entitled for grant of status of daily wage Sweeper on and with effect from 30.3.2006, 11.08.2006 and 18.01.2004, respectively. However, they have not been vested with such status.

In view of the above, the petition is allowed with a direction to the Respondents/competent authority to consider the cases of the Petitioners for grant of status of contingent/whole time Sweeper w.e.f 30.3.2006, 11.08.2006 and 18.01.2004, respectively, along with consequential benefits, within a period of three months from the date of production of copy of this judgment by the Petitioners, failing which interest @ 9% per annum shall follow.

The petition, so also the pending CMP(s), if any stand disposed of in the above terms.