Madras High Court
M/S.Shri Padmanabha Industrial ... vs The Secretary To Government on 11 September, 2012
Author: S.Manikumar
Bench: S.Manikumar
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED: 11/09/2012 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.MANIKUMAR W.P(MD)No.11946 of 2012 M/s.Shri Padmanabha Industrial Training Institute, through its Correspondent, A.Rajendran, 2, Nadar Nadhavanatheru, Thirutangal Post, Virudhunagar District. .. Petitioner Vs. 1.The Secretary to Government, Labour and Employment (S1) Department, State of Tamil Nadu, Fort St., George, Chennai. 2.The Regional Joint Director, Employment and Training, Tirunelveli Region, Salai Road, Vannarpettai, Thirunelveli. .. Respondents PRAYER Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to quash the G.O.Ms.No.115, dated 19.07.2012, Labour and Employment (S1) Department as discriminatory and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India; declare as not implementable for the academic year 2012-13 due to belated issuance, when 50% or more admissions to Industrial Training Institutes for the year 2012-13 has been completed; and direct the Government to implement G.O after rectification of the defects in the Government Order from the next academic year. !For petitioner ... Mr.S.Seenivasagam ^For respondents ... Mr.T.R.Janarthanam, Addl. Government Pleader :ORDER
Challenging the validity of G.O.Ms.No.115 Labour and Employment Training (S1) Department, dated 19.07.2012 as discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and also to declare the same as not implementable in the academic year 2012-2013 due to belated issuance of the Government Order, when 50% or more admissions to Industrial Training Institutes for the academic year 2012-2013 has already been completed, the writ petition has been filed by a private Industrial Training Institute. It has also prayed to issue directions to the Government to implement the Government order, after rectification of the defects in the Government Order, from the next academic year.
2.According to the petitioner, M/s.Shri Padmanabha Industrial Training Institute, Thiruthangal Post, Virudhunagar District, there are 62 Government Industrial Training institutions (ITIs) and 627 recognised private ITIs in the State of Tamil Nadu. 50% of the seats are earmarked as Government quota ie., eight seats and admission has to be made following, merit cum rule of reservation. The remaining seats are filled up by the management. In case of any seat falling vacant in Government quota, after regular admission is over, they would be left as such and that is the usual practice. Due to the increase in the number of engineering colleges in the State of Tamil Nadu which according to the petitioner, has crossed 540, Higher Secondary Students, prefer admission to engineering colleges and in the result, admission in ITIs have come down. In the petitioner institution for the past two years due to inadequate number of students, admission in Fitter trade was not conducted. This year for the trade of Mechanic(Refrigeration & Air Conditioning) only one application has been received so far.
3.While that be so, the Government have issued G.O.115 Labour and Employment Department, dated 19.07.2012 introducing a new scheme of admission through counselling and to provide financial assistance to the candidates selected under 50% Government quota in private ITIs from the academic year 2012-
13. According to the petitioner, Annexure-I to the Government Order, which provides for a list of ITIs imposes several conditions for selection of private ITIs, to become eligible under the scheme. As per the Government Order, admission through counselling is now made optional and not compulsory for all ITIs. Those ITIs selected for counselling process should surrender 50% of the Government quota in favour of the Government to get allotment of seats through counselling and that the students who submit their applications for admission through counselling alone are eligible to get admission under the scheme and avail the benefit of financial assistance of Rs.10,000/- per year, if it is in rural areas and Rs.12,000/- in urban areas.
4.According to the petitioner, an ITI has to satisfy certain conditions, so as to qualify under the scheme and that an eligibility test has to be conducted by the Regional Director of Employment and Training, the second respondent herein, in the case of the petitioner institute. After conducting the evaluation tests, institutions would be included in the list of ITIs eligible to get admission through counselling in the prospectus of the Government ITI, and that private ITIs have to make necessary advertisements of the above fact, at least in two Tamil dailies.
5.The petitioner has further submitted that pursuant to the Government order, the Regional Joint Director of Employment and Training, Tirunelveli Region, through his communication in R.C.No.5602/Kaipa, 18.08.2012, has instructed the petitioner to collect the applications from the students for admission against 50% of seats, i.e, Government quota between 13.08.2012 and 24.08.2012 and further instructed the petitioner institute to advertise the same about the admission to be under 50% of the Government quota through counselling.
6.According the petitioner, advertisement has been made. Till 29.08.2012, the Regional Joint Director of Employment and Training, Tirunelveli has not communicated the list of selected ITIs to avail the benefit of the scheme or the trades of those ITIs selected. On enquiry, the petitioner came to know that only two trades Fitter and Refrigeration and A/C Mechanic trades alone were included in the counselling process and the other trades, Mechcanic (Motor Vehicles) and Electrician, were not included.
7.On 30.08.2012, the date on which counselling was held at the Counselling Centre, Virudhunagar Government ITI, the Principal, a Member of the Counselling Process through his office, circulated an information table containing the particulars of the ITIs included in the counselling and to the surprise of the petitioner, there were only 7 ITIs out of 11 ITIs in Virudhunagar District included in the counselling process and others were not included. According to the petitioner, no list of eligible ITIs selected for counselling was published, when the scheme of counselling for filling up the seats in Government quota was announced. Two trades in the petitioner institutes, Mechanic (Motor Vehicles ) and Electrician were not included. Thus according to the petitioner, there are several lacunae in the Government Order and when all the institutes have almost completed the admission process, the counselling process now introduced, may substantially reduce the training period and it would also deny several ITIs, from availing the benefits of the Government order.
8.On the above pleadings Mr.M.Seenivasagam, Learned counsel for the petitioner assailed, the validity of the Government order on the ground that the Government Order issued 19.07.2012, in the midway of admission to various courses in ITIs, cannot be implemented in letter and spirit. According to him, when the Government Order is aimed at to fill up seats earmarked as government quota with financial assistance, the restrictions imposed by the Government to extend the financial assistance only to those ITIs selected and that too, who exercise their option to come under the counselling is discriminatory and that financial assistance has to be extended to all the courses in all the private ITIs. He also submitted that all the ITIs are functioning with due approval and subject to inspection, and affiliation conditions, and in such circumstances, there is no need to have a selection process to bring the institutes under the process of counselling, which would pave way for arbitrariness and discrimination. The private Industrial Training Institute, not selected under the scheme would be discriminated and those students who had been admitted under the Government quota, in the private ITIs prior to the notification of the Government Order, would not be in a position to avail the financial assistance. He also submitted that those students who got admission in the ITIs, not included in the list also cannot avail the any benefit under the Government Order.
9.It is also his contention that since the Government Order issued belatedly and having regard to the fact the Regional Joint Director, Employment and Training has not issued any public notification, many students would be deprived of an opportunity of availing the benefit of the Government order. The authority authorised to do the counselling, would be constrained to start another process of admission and that the students who had already been admitted, would be forced to undergo a fresh counselling to avail the financial assistance. According to the learned counsel, the same would disrupt the admission already made in some of the institutes and that there are also chances that the students already admitted might leave the institutes and opt to study in other institutions, under Government quota which would cause inconvenience to the institutions, who had completed the admission process.
10.Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner.
11.The impugned Government order requires extracted.
"Employment and Training' -e- Training Wing - Implementation of the scheme of filling up of Unutilized Capacity with Private Industrial Training Institutes under Government Quota - Reimbursement of training cost to the private Industrial Training Institutes ~ Sanctioned
- Orders - Issued
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Labour and Employment (S1)Department G,O, ( Ms ) NO.115 Dated 19.07.2012. Aadi 4, Thiruvalluvar Aandu 2043 Read:
1. G.Oz(Ms) No.2273, Labour and Employment (S1) Department, dated 28.12.1989.'
2. From the Director of Employment and Training Letter No.R.C.No. 11779/Plan,3/2012 Dated 9.4.2012.
ORDER ***** During the Review Meeting of Labour and Employment Department by Hon'ble Chief Minister on 16.3.2012, the following decision was taken among other things.
"Unutilised capacity with Private Industrial Training Institutes: It was noted that 50% of the capacity in Private Industrial Training Institutes presently remains unutilized. The department was asked to submit a detailed proposal for utilizing this surplus capacity for skill upgradation"
2.Vision Tamil Nadu 2023, announced by the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, envisages training and Skilling 20 million persons over the next 11 years. This will include 15 million people entering the job market and 5 million who are already part of the working population. 65% of the persons targeted for skill development
3. There are 627 Private affiliated Industrial Training Institutes in the state with seating capacity of 60320. Every year, only 50% of the seats are filled up in these institutes. Remaining seats are vacant every year. They are not able to mobilize the candidates due to their high training fee structure, as a result nearly 500/0 of sanctioned seats remain unutilised every year in Private Industrial Training Institutes. The school drop outs who are generally poor prefer to become skilled workforce/ while their poor economic background prevents them from entering into Industrial Training Institutes. Government view is that these 50% of the seats unutilized needs to be utilized.
4.In the letter 2nd read above, the Director of Employment and Training has sent the proposal for utilizing the 50% of sanctioned seats in the private Industrial Training Institutes and to fill up the seats by Government quota. The Government have carefully examined the proposal and decided to implement the scheme of filling up of the 50% of sanctioned seats available in Private Industrial Training Institutes under Government quota through District Counseling and to provide reimbursement of actual cost to the Private Industrial Training Institutes as follows:
(i) The scheme will be implemented as per the guidelines in Annexure - 1.
(ii) Year wise sanction is accorded as follows for the expenditure involved in implementing the scheme in respect of reimbursement of training cost to the private Industrial Training Institutes would be provided with training basic skills for a variety of livelihoods, about 33% would be persons who have undergone formal education .as part of vocational training programmes while the top 20/0 would be top echelon professi0'1als.
2012 - 2013 - Rs.14.85Crores (Rupees fourteen crores and eighty five lakhs only) 2013-2014 - Rs.26.40 Crores (Rupees Twenty six crores and forty lakhs only) 2014-2015 - Rs.33.00 Crores (Rupees (and onwards) Thirty three crores only)
(iii) Permission is also accorded to the Director of Employment and Training on the following towards implementation of the scheme.
1. To instruct the private ITIs to surrender the Government Quota seats to the Department and to fill up through District counseling.
2. To receive applications from Private ITls in the prescribed format and process it, conduct evaluation study, select the institute and include it for counseling.
3. To give advertisement in two Tamil dailies to invite applications from the candidates for counseling of Private ITIs' along with Government ITI in Districts by the Principals of Government ITIs along with the Regional Joint Director of Training.
4. To include the eligible Private ITIs list in the Government ITI prospectus.
5. To conduct counseling of candidates in the respective District Government ITIs and select candidates on merit: cum communal reservation and allot the trainees to the Private ITIs as per the choice of the candidate every year.
6. To leave the lapsed seats to the institutes' purview and fill them under Management Quota.
7. To fix the reimbursement of training cost for the Private ITIs at the rate of Rs.10,OOO/(Rs.20,000/- for two year courses) per candidate in Rural and Rs.12,OOO/- (Rs.24,000/- for two year courses) per candidate for the Institutes located in Municipalities and Corporations.
8. To release 75% of the cost to all the candidates allotted in 2012-13 and the balance 25% only to the candidates who pass the All India Trade Test, for one year courses.
9.To release 37.5% of reimbursement of two year training cost of Rs.20,OOO/- or Rs.24,OOO/- whichever is applicable at the beginning of 1st year training, next 37.5% at the beginning of 2nd year to all the allotted candidates who continue to attend the training and the balance 25% to candidates who pass the All India Trade Test, for two year courses .
10. To incur expenditure on reimbursement of training cost to Private ITIs in connection with the students filled 'up through Government Quota under this scheme as in the annexure II.
5. The expenditure sanctioned in para 4 above is debitable under the following Head of Account :-
"2230- Labour and Employment ~03.Training _ 101 Industrial Training Institutes - I. Non Plan AA - Industrial Training Institute - 09 - Grants - in - Aid - 03 Grants for specific schemes" (Ope 2230 03 101 AA 0930)
6. The expenditure sanctioned in paragraph "4" above constitute an item of "New Instrument of Service". The approval of the Legislature will be obtained in due course. Pending approval of the Legislature the expenditure will initially be met from an advance drawn from the contingency fund; orders regarding which will be issued separately in Finance (BG- 1) Department. The Director of Employment and Training is directed to apply for sanctioning contingency fund in the prescribed proforma along with the 'copy of this order to Government in Finance (BG-I) Department. The Director of Employment and Training is also directed to send necessary notes to Government in Finance Department for inclusion of the expenditure in the Supplementary Estimates to obtain the approval of the Legislature at the appropriate time.
7. This Order issues with the concurrence of Finance Department Vide U.O.No.216/JS(PM)/2012, dated 16.7.2012 and ASL No.684 (Six hundred and Eighty Four) (BY ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR) MOHAN PYARE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT Annexure -I Guidelines for implementation of the scheme of filling up of the 500/0 of sanctioned seats available in Private ITIs under Government quota
i)In Private Industrial Training Institutes in each course, 50% sanctioned seats are filled up as management quota and remaining 50% seats to be filled up by following the rules of reservation in force can be filled up as Government quota.
2)The private institutes willing to come under this scheme, may every year surrender the seats to be filled under the scheme to the Department.
3)The candidates will be selected according to merit and communal rotation through District Wise Counseling arranged by the Department of Employment and Training. The Principals of Government ITIs along with the concerned Regional Joint Director of Training will advertise in leading two Tamil dailies to invite applications from the candidates for counseling of Private ITIs along with Government ITI in Districts. District wise list -of eligible Private ITIs will be included in the prospectus. The Private ITIs are also permitted to advertise on their behalf to invite applications for counseling. Counseling will be conducted by the Government ITIs located in each District. The selected candidates will be allotted to the institutes as per their choice. Any unfilled seats will be announced as lapsed seats and the institute is permitted to fill up these seats under Management Quota.
4)The candidates thus allotted by the Department ill the month of August every year will be trained in the concerned Private Institute as per NCVT norms of training and the trained candidates will attend the final Trade Test conducted by NCVT in the month of July every year.
Eligibility for the Private ITls to apply under the scheme.
1. The Training Institute should have affiliation from NCVT.
2. The Training Institute must be in existence for a minimum period of three years.
3. The Training Institute should have the required number of qualified faculty members on its pay roll as per NCVT Norms.
4. The Training Institute must have all machineries and equipments as per NCVT Norms.
5. The institute should continue to maintain class room and lab facilities properly.
A technical evaluation study will be conducted for the institutes applying under the scheme on the following points:
1. Overall Training Capacity
2. Location of Institutes
3. Building Facility
4.Equipments and Machineries
5.Financial Standing
6. Number of Courses
7. Method of Teaching
8. Field Visit and Practical Training
9. Placement Assistance
10. Quality of Training
11. Pass Percentage of Candidates
12. Overall Performance Based on the evaluation results, the eligible institutes will be selected under this Scheme. And the selected institutes are permitted to participate in counseling.
The private training institutes are instructed to comply with the following conditions to get eligible for reimbursement in subsequent years in addition to other stipulated conditions.
1. The duration of training programme for each trade is as fixed by NCVT.
2. NCVT syllabus should be adhered to in the training programme with sufficient soft skill programme as required.
3. The Training Institute should arrange the trainees to appear for the All India Trade Test conducted by NCVT every year at the end of training period.
4. The institute should not collect any kind of fee from the students covered under this scheme.
5. Campus interview should be arranged by the training institute at the end of training.
6. No excess candidate other than the sanctioned strength is admitted by the institute.
Reimbursement of Training cost
1. 100% reimbursement of training cost will be given only for the passed out candidates in All India Trade. Test conducted by National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) 75% of the cost will be reimbursed to all the candidates admitted including the failed candidates.
2) The support under the scheme for the purpose of train would be the actual cost of training at the rate of Rs.10,OOO/- per trainee per year in rural areas & Rs.12,000 per trainee per year in urban areas.
3) This support is meant for the complete process i.e. towards mobilization and recruitment of trainees, training of trainers, cost of trainers, preparation of training location, training equipment, consumables, training materials, utilities, boarding/lodging 'of trainees if required, assessment and certification of trainees etc,.
4)75% of the reimbursement amount may be initially released to the institute based on the fixed fee and the balance 25% will be released based on the number of passed out candidates.
5)For two year courses, reimbursement of Rs.20,OOO/- per student for rural institutes and Rs.24,OOO/- per student for institutes located in Municipalities and Corporation limits is eligible.
6) In two year courses, 37.5% release of reimbursement of training cost will be made in the beginning of first year and another 37.5% of reimbursement of training cost will be made in the beginning of second year and, tile balance _ 25% of reimbursement will be released based on the number of passed out candidates at the end of second year training.
7) Funds will be released by the Government to the institute directly through ECS.
Annexure - II Item No of Beneficiaries Total (Amount) (Rs. in Lakhs) 2012-2013 75% 3000 x 0.75 x 12,000 495.00 reimbursement cost 3000x0.75x10000 in 2012-13 3000 x 0.75 X 12,000 for the one year course students. 37.5% reimbursement 6000x0.375x24000 990.00 cost in 2012-13 6000 6000x0.375x24000 x 0.375 X 24,000 for the 1st year students of two year Total 1485 2013-2014
25% final reimbursement 3000x0.25x12,000 165.00 for one year course 3000x0.25x10,000 passed out candidates admitted in 2012-13 37.5% reimbursement cost for the second year 6000x0.375x24000 990.00 training of the students 6000x0.375x20000 admitted in 2012-13 in two year courses 75% reimbursement cost 3000x0.75x12000 495.00 for the one year course 3000x0.75x10,000 students of 2013-14 37.5% reimbursement 6000x0.375x24000 990.00 cost for the first 6000x0.375x20000 year students of two year courses admission in 2013-14 Total 2640.00 2014-2015(onwards) 6000x0.375x24000 660.00 25% final reimbursement 6000x0.375x20000 for the two year course passed out students admitted in 2012-13 25% final reimbursement 3000x0.25x12,000 165.00 for the one year course 3000x0.25x10,000 students admitted in 2013-14
12.Material on record shows that the Regional Joint Director of Employment and Training, Tirunelveli, vide proceedings in R.C.No.5620/Kaipa/dated 06.08.2012 has instructed the correspondents of the private Industrial Training Institutes to submit their applications, if they intent to participate in the District counselling to fill up 50% of the Government quota as per G.O.Ms.No.115, dated 19.07.2012. The said applications have to reach the Regional Joint Director Employment and Training, Tirunelveli on or before 10.08.2012.
13.According to the petitioner institute it has submitted an application on 10.08.2012, expressing its willing to participate in the District counselling process and that the Government quota seats in all the four trades namely, Refrigeration and A/C Mechanic, Fitter, Mechanic (motor Vehicle), and Electrician, be filled up through counselling. The Regional Joint Director, Tirunelveli has also permitted the private Industrial Training Institutes to advertise in the newspapers inviting applications for admission against 50% of the seats earmarked as Government quota. The said authority has also informed that application forms for filling up 50% seats under Government quota seats through District counselling would be available between 13.08.2012 and 24.08.2012 in 10 Government ITIs, within the jurisdiction of the Regional Joint Director, Employment and Training, Tirunelveli. The said communication dated 18.08.2012 has been addressed to the petitioner institute, and that it has also been made clear that counselling would be held on 30.08.2012 and 31.08.2012. That apart, the Regional Joint Director, Employment and Training, Tirunelveli has also permitted the private ITIs to advertise any information favourable to them and that by admitting more number of students, the institutes would also be benefitted.
14.Though the petitioner has enclosed certain pamphlets at page nos.18 and 19 of the typed set of papers said to be news items advertised in the newspapers, perusal of the same does not reflect as to whether the petitioner institute has notified in any Tamil newspapers as directed by the Regional Joint Director, Employment and Training, Tirunelveli. Even the averments made in the supporting affidavit do not disclose that advertisements have been made in the local areas in and around Thiruthangal in any newspaper.
15.From the averments made in the supporting affidavit, it could be deduced that the petitioner institute has also been included in the counselling process, but only two trades Fitter, Refrigeration and A/C Mechanic have been included in the counselling process and that the other two trades namely, Mechanic(Motor vehicles) and Electrician have not been selected as eligible for counselling. When the abovesaid trades were included in the counseling process, in respect of the other two it is the categorical admission of the petitioner institute that in the past, Fitter trade could not be commenced due to inadequate number of students and that there was only one application for admission to Refrigeration and Air Condition Mechanic trade. The contention that all the private institutes in the District should be included in the counselling process to fill up 50% seats under Government quota without there being any separate selection cannot be countenanced. Reading of the supporting affidavit indicates that the writ petition has been filed espousing the cause of all the institutions, or like a public interest litigation contending that the benefits of the scheme has to be extended to each and every private ITI in the State without any process of selection.
16.Instructions have been issued to all the Principals of private ITIs to submit their applications to the Regional Joint Directors, Employment and Training in the appropriate format on or before 10.08.2012. As per the Government Order, the eligibility for the private ITIs to apply under the scheme are as follows:
"1.The Training Institute should have affiliation from NCVT.
2.The Training Institute must be in existence for a minimum period of three years.
3.The Training Institute should have the required number of qualified faculty members on its pay roll as per NCVT Norms.
4.The Training Institute must have all machineries and equipments as per NCVT Norms.
5.The institute should continue to maintain class room and lab facilities properly".
17.A technical evaluation study would be conducted for the institutes to be selected under the scheme on the following points:
"1.Overall training capacity
2.Location of Institutes
3.Building facility
4.Equipments and Machineries
5.Financial Standing
6.Number of Courses
7.Method of Teaching
8.Field Visit and Practical Training
9.Placement Assistance
10.Quality of Training
11.Pass Percentage of Candidates
12.Overall Performance"
18.As per the Government order, year-wise sanction has been accorded for the expenditure involved in implementing the scheme in respect of reimbursement of training cost to the private industrial training institutes. For the academic year 2012-2013, a sum of Rs.14.85 crores has been sanctioned, for the year 2013-2014, a sum of Rs.26.40 Crores has been sanctioned and for the year 2014-2015 onwards, the estimated expenditure is about 33.00 Crores per year. When huge amounts have to be spent periodically as reimbursement of training cost, certainly, the Government would be interested in selecting only those institutes which satisfy the parameters or the eligibility criteria, contained in the Government Order for evaluation of the institutes. Inclusion of all the institutes in the list for counselling is not automatic and mandatory. Inclusion is by option of the institute and after selection by Government or the competent authority as the case may be. They have to necessarily undergo the process of selection as to whether they satisfy the criteria prescribed by the Government and qualify themselves. If any Private ITI, does not want to avail the benefit under the scheme, there is no compulsion to undergo the counselling process.
19.The factors prescribed by the Government for the purpose of technical evaluation cannot be said to be either onerous or extraneous to the process of selection under the scheme. Even if the Private ITIs are not selected under the scheme, they are not prevented from admitting students and collect fees prescribed for the course. Merely because, an institute has offered to come under the counselling process, it cannot be said the government is bound to include all the trades or the institutes, in the counselling, dehorse, the factors to be taken into consideration for selection. The criteria mentioned in the Government Order is applied uniformly to all the institutes. In the case on hand, the grievance of the petitioner is that before counselling, no newspaper advertisement has been given about the Government scheme and that no list of eligible ITIs selected for counselling has been published. As stated supra, when the petitioner institute submitted an application to the Regional Joint Director of Employment and Training, Tirunelveli, the same has been considered and after conducting a technical evaluation study, two trades have been included in the counseling. Every private ITI has been directed to notify in the newspapers about the counselling process and certainly during the counselling process, the students who had opted to study in a particular trade in an institute would have been informed as to whether such an institute or the trade included in the counselling for admission or not against 50% Government quota. Financial assistance of reimbursing the cost of training is only to enable the poor and under privileged students to avail the assistance and in that process, it is always open to the Government to adopt a selection process, particularly, when huge amounts are spent.
20.Material on record shows that the petitioner institute has been included in the counselling process for two trades. In respect of another private institute, Ramalakshmi ITI, all the trades have been included in the counselling and hence, the petitioner has alleged bias in selection. Merely because two trades namely, in the petitioner's institute Mechanic (Motor Vehicle) and Electrician, were not included in the District counselling process for filling up 50% Government quota seats, it cannot be said that the scheme which extends financial assistance introduced with a vision to train large number of persons for skill development and livelihood, cannot be implemented for this academic year 2012-13. It could be seen from the Government Order, that during the review meeting of Labour and Employment Department, by the Hon'ble Chief Minister on 16.03.2012, the following decision has been taken among other things:
"Unutilised capacity with Private Industrial Training Institutes: It has been noticed that 50% of the capacity in Private Industrial Training Institutes presently remain unutilised. The department has been asked to submit a detailed proposal for utilising this surplus capacity for skill upgradation". The Hon'ble Chief Minister has announced that "Vision Tamil Nadu 2023" envisages training and skill development of 20 million persons over the next 11 years which includes 15 million people entering the job market and 5 million already part of the working population. 65% of the persons have been targeted for skill development and that they would be provided with training basic skills for a variety of livelihood. About 33% would be persons who have already undergone formal education as part of vocational training programmes while the top 2% would be top echelon professionals.
21.The Government after taking into account the seats remaining vacant, in 627 private affiliated Industrial Training Institutes in the State with a capacity of 60320 and the reason that the institutes are not mobilising the candidates due to their high training fee structure and as a result of which nearly 50% of the sanctioned seats remain unutilised every year and also taking into consideration that many of the school drop outs who are generally poor prefer to become skilled workforce, due to their economic background preventing them from entering into Industrial Training Institutes with a laudable object of utilising 50% of the sanctioned seats in the private industrial training institutes with a far sighted vision of targeting skill development and also with a view to provide livelihood to many persons have sanctioned huge amounts for implementing the scheme in the matter of reimbursement of actual cost to the training institutes. Such a laudable scheme in helping the poor under privileged, economically weaker sections of the society should be allowed to come into existence immediately and not to be scuttled or postponed even assuming, there are minor defects, if any, in implementation.
22.The schedule for reimbursement of the course fee has been prescribed in Annexure II to the Government order. Counselling has been held on 30.08.2012 and 31.08.2012. Students applied for admission against 50% seats under the Government quota would have been called for counselling, subject to merit and rule of reservation, if any. The petitioner institute was also one among the private industrial training institutes included in the District counselling. Merely because a list of selected institutes has not been notified by the second respondent before counselling the Government order cannot be declared as discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
23.As stated supra, the Government order applies to all the Institutes who can exercise their option to be under the counselling process subject to the technical evaluation study. The introduction of a well designed scheme for filling up 50% seats under the Government quota in private industrial training institutes on the same lines as that of single window admission in engineering colleges would not only help the educational authorities, to regulate the admission of students in private industrial training institutes on the basis of merit but it would also enable more number of poor students, unable to pay the fee structure prescribed by the private institutes to join the industrial training institutes for skill development and training.
24.The scheme virtually provides free education to the poor and economically weaker sections of the society to acquire skill development and training in various trades, and that the institutes are given financial assistance by reimbursing the cost of training. The contention that the students would not be able to avail the benefits in all the institutions is wholly irrelevant insofar as the rights of the petitioner is concerned. From the application form submitted to the Regional Joint Director, Tirunelveli District, it could be deduced that though the petitioner institute has offered to surrender all the 8 seats in the four trades in the petitioner institute, only two trades have been selected in the evaluation test. As stated supra, inclusion of the institute in the counselling process is optional and assuming that any institute does not opt for counselling process, that does not mean that the said institute cannot admit any student under Government quota. No restriction has been placed in the Government Order that no admission shall be made against the Government quota, by the institutes who did not exercise its option to come under District Counselling. Depending upon the proximity of the ITI to the place of residence or place of accommodation, it is for the student to opt to study in any institute, selected under the scheme.
25.As stated supra, though each one of the private industrial training institutes, willing to participate in the District counselling has been directed to make specific advertisements about points favourable to them in the newspapers, there is no proof that the petitioner had advertised in any leading Tamil newspapers. Even assuming that wide publicity or advertisement is given in the newspapers attracting students to join any private industrial training institute, ultimately, it is the choice of the students that matters. A student who can apply for admission under the Government quota of 50% seats, may desire to join in a particular course, in a particular institute may even prefer to study in an institute which is proximate to his residence because of his poor financial background, or lack of accommodation or unavailability of any hostel facility, or for any bona fide reason. If 50% seats earmarked under the Government quota in the petitioner's institute are not filled up due to any reason, the Government or the authorities, authorised to conduct evaluation test for selection and counselling, cannot be blamed and that is why the Regional Joint Director, Employment and Training, Tirunelveli, has instructed all the private ITIs to make wide publicity by advertising in newspapers about the scheme. The benevolent scheme devised to reach the poor students, cannot be said to be ultra vires of the Constitution of India much less violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. On the contra, the scheme intended with a laudable object to help the economically poor students, is in consonance with the Directive Principles of the State Policy and it deserves to be upheld. Sometimes, a scheme introduced may even has an initial hiccup in implementation and for that matter, the scheme cannot be declared as unworkable. It is for the Government and the authorities to device and formulate the methods for implementation of the scheme. The apprehension of the petitioner that students already admitted in the institutes would leave such institutes and secure admission in some other institutes, under Government quota and that the said institutes would be put to hardship is not substantiated in the case of the petitioner institute. It is not open to the petitioner institute to plead and advance submissions, on behalf of everybody. At the risk of repetition, it has to be reiterated that it is for the respective institutes to opt for counselling. This Court is of the view that there is no violation of any constitutional provisions.
26.The petitioner institute who has already undergone the process of selection and acquiesced to the Government order, has no locus standi to challenge the same. The Government order has been implemented for this year by conducting counselling on 30.08.2012 and 31.08.2012. The prayer to quash the Government order and other consequential directions cannot be granted, since the scheme of counselling and financial assistance has been introduced for the benefit of poor students. By this time, the Government and the authorities while implementing the Government order, and enjoined with a duty and responsibility to see that the huge expenditure of several crores of rupees is spent properly in providing training and skill to the poor and under privileged would have gained experience during the process of counselling and evaluation study conducted for selecting and identifying the institutes, and that would certainly help the Government and the authorities to make any amendments or changes in the process of counselling to fill up 50% seats under government quota and that the same, would be certainly taken note of by the authorities in implementing the scheme.
27.In the light of the above discussion, this Court is of the view that no valid grounds have been made out to declare the Government order as violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. On the contra, the Government order is very well protected under Article 14 of the Constitution in that it has been made applicable to all the private industrial training institutes which have come forward to participate in the counselling subject to the satisfaction of the factors, enumerated therein. When huge amounts are spent, certainly, the Government has all the powers and authority to frame guidelines for selecting the institutes under the scheme.
28.The writ petition fails and the same is dismissed. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.
sms To
1.The Secretary to Government, Labour and Employment (S1) Department, State of Tamil Nadu, Fort St., George, Chennai.
2.The Regional Joint Director, Employment and Training, Tirunelveli Region, Salai Road, Vannarpettai, Thirunelveli.