Himachal Pradesh High Court
Rekha Devi vs State Of H.P. And Others on 14 July, 2023
Author: Jyotsna Rewal Dua
Bench: Jyotsna Rewal Dua
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No.4123 of 2019 Decided on: 14th July, 2023
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Rekha Devi .....Petitioner
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Versus
State of H.P. and others .....Respondents
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Coram Ms. Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua Whether approved for reporting? 1 For the Petitioner: Mr. Ashok K. Tyagi, Advocate. For the Respondents: Mr. Anup Rattan, Advocate General with Mr. Y.P.S. Dhaulta, Additional r Advocate General and Ms. Seema Sharma, Deputy Advocate General.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Judge The petitioner has laid challenge to the order dated 21.11.2019 passed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, District Sirmour, to the extent it holds her ineligible for selection to the post of Anganwari Helper for not possessing the prescribed educational qualification of Middle standard.
2. Facts:-
2(i). The respondents on 15.01.2019, issued an advertisement (Annexure P-1) for filling in one post of Anganwari Helper in Anganwari Centre Purla, Tehsil 1 Whether reporters of print and electronic media may be allowed to see the order? Yes.::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2023 20:34:08 :::CIS 2
Nahan, District Sirmour. The advertisement was issued in terms of the Scheme/Guidelines for the engagement of Anganwari Helpers under ICDS Scheme run by Social Justice & Empowerment Department, notified by the .
respondents on 29.02.2016 (Annexure P-2). Petitioner and two other candidates, namely Smt. Anita Devi and Smt. Kiran Bala, applied for the post.
2(ii). Interviews for the post of Anganwari Helper were held on 27.02.2019. The candidature of Smt. Kiran Bala was rejected on account of her income being more than the limit prescribed under the notification. She otherwise also remained absent during the interview. Petitioner (Rekha Devi) was also held to be ineligible for appointment to the post of Anganwari Helper for want of possessing required educational qualification. The third candidate Smt. Anita Devi was selected for the post.
2(iii). Aggrieved against the selection of Smt. Anita Devi and her own disqualification for the post on account of not having the prescribed educational qualification, the petitioner filed appeal under Clause 12 of the Policy/ Guidelines issued by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, before the Additional Deputy Commissioner, District Sirmour. The challenge to selection and appointment of Smt. Anita Devi was laid on several grounds ::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2023 20:34:08 :::CIS 3 including the one that her income was higher than the limit prescribed in the notified policy for selection of Anganwari Helper. Petitioner also urged that she was fully qualified for the post.
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2(iv). Inquiries were got conducted into the matter by the competent authority. Petitioner's assertion with regard to income of Smt. Anita Devi, being much more than the prescribed limit, was held to be correct. Eventually, vide impugned order dated 21.11.2019, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, District Sirmour held the selection and appointment of Smt. Anita Devi bad in law.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the order to this an extent has attained finality as Smt. Anita Devi has accepted the verdict and has not assailed it any further. The grievance in the instant petition is to the other part of the order, whereby the petitioner has also been held to be ineligible for selection to the post of Anganwari Helper for the reason that she does not possess the requisite educational qualification.
3. Part of the impugned order that is under challenge in this petition holds that the required educational qualification for the post of Anganwari Helper was Middle standard. Observing that the petitioner did not satisfy this qualification, further direction was issued in the ::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2023 20:34:08 :::CIS 4 order for holding fresh interviews for the post as there was none in the waiting list. The direction for holding fresh interviews for the post of Anganwari Helper in Anganwari Centre Purla, Tehsil Nahan, District Sirmour, has been .
stayed vide order dated 11.12.2019 passed in the instant petition. The order is still in force.
4. I have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Additional Advocate General for the respondents.
4(a). The respondents in their reply have reiterated that the petitioner was not eligible since she did not possess minimum educational qualification required for the post of Anganwari Helper, i.e. Middle standard.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that petitioner satisfied the educational criteria and invited attention to the 'Eligibility Criteria' laid down in Column No.4 of the Scheme/Guidelines for the engagement of Anganwadi Workers/Mini Anganwari Worker/Helpers on honorary basis under ICDS scheme run by Social Justice & Empowerment Department, notified on 29.02.2016 (Annexure P-2). The relevant portion from this eligibility criteria reads as under:-
"b) For Anganwadi Worker minimum qualification shall be 10+2 or equivalent Mini Anganwari Worker shall be Matric or equivalent and for Helper minimum qualification shall be Primary instead of Middle in ::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2023 20:34:08 :::CIS 5 case of non availability of applicants with Middle qualification in the corresponding feeder area."
4(b). In this case, we are concerned with appointment to the post of Anganwari Helper. As per above .
extract, for the post of Anganwari Helper, the required educational qualification is 'Middle'. However, a provision exists in the criteria that in case of non-availability of applicants with 'Middle' qualification, the minimum qualification shall be 'Primary'. The same stipulations were incorporated in the advertisement dated 15.01.2019, vide which the applications were invited for the post in question.
In the instant case, admittedly only three candidates had applied. Out of these three, one candidate (Smt. Kiran Bala) remained absent. She was otherwise declared as ineligible on account of her family income being more than the limit prescribed in the notification. The selected candidate (Smt. Anita Devi) has also been declared as ineligible under the impugned order on account of her higher family income. The order to this an extent is stated to have become final. But for the petitioner, there was no other candidate for the post. In the given fact situation, the proviso under Clause 4(b) of the policy (Annexure P-2) got attracted. In terms of this proviso, in case of non-
::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2023 20:34:08 :::CIS 6availability of applicants with 'Middle' qualification, the minimum qualification was to be treated as 'Primary'.
Clause 4(b) of the policy has not been discussed in the impugned order. In terms of the impugned order, the .
petitioner has been held to be ineligible for the post only on account of the fact that she does not possess Middle standard qualification, whereas, in terms of the policy, the minimum educational qualification would become 'Primary' instead of 'Middle' in case of non-availability of the applicants with 'Middle' qualification. In the instant case, the other two participating candidates have been declared as ineligible. In fact, one of them did not even appear in the interview. Hence, the required educational qualification was to be treated as 'Primary' instead of 'Middle'. Petitioner is a 'Primary' pass candidate. Impugned order dated 21.11.2019, holding the petitioner ineligible for the post on count of her not possessing 'Middle' qualification, is not in consonance with the applicable policy.
5. For all the aforesaid reasons, there is merit in the instant petition. The same is accordingly allowed. The impugned order dated 21.11.2019 (Annexure P-7) is quashed and set aside to the extent it holds the petitioner as ineligible for the post of Anganwari Helper in Anganwari ::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2023 20:34:08 :::CIS 7 Centre Purla, Tehsil Nahan, District Sirmour.
Consequential actions shall follow.
The writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms, so also the pending miscellaneous application(s), if .
any.
Jyotsna Rewal Dua
July 14, 2023 Judge
Mukesh
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