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17. Before answering the issue, we would like to advert to some of the provisions of the Scheme. Let us examine the powers of the Board to effect transfers of mathadi workers, from one Toli to another and also to grouping and re-grouping the said workers.

They are as follows :

‰ a) Under section 7(1) of the Maharashtra Mathadi Hamal & Other Manual Workers (Regulation of Employment & Welfare) Act 1969, the Board is responsible for administering the Scheme and shall exercise such powers and perform such functions as may be conferred on it by the Scheme.
‰ b) In exercise of powers vested in it under section 3(3) of the Mathadi Act, the State Government has framed a Scheme known as The Railway Goods Clearing & Forwarding Un-
protected Workers (Regulation Of Employment & Welfare) Scheme 1976 (hereafter referred to as the Scheme). The mathadi workers involved in the present petition are registered under the above Scheme.

Reference is also made to the minutes of the meeting held on 2.12.1995 wherein proposal to transfer workers of Toli No.1A and 1B to newly created Toli No.37 and wherein it was also stated that workers who have been transferred to Toli No.37 had the option of three months to return to the original toli. In other words, if they had not exercised their right, then they would not be entitled to go back to their original toli. Then at the highest would be applicable to those workers who had been transferred initially. Under the Right to Information Act, pursuant to the information sought by the Maharashtra Mathadi and General Kamgar Union on 24.2.2006 in answer to question No.5 which was - "Whether board is obtaining the consent of the workers of the tolis, of worker is to be sent/transferred from one toli to another toli? The answer given was "Yes. If worker is to be sent from one toli to another toli, as per requirement and situation, Board is obtaining consent of workers of the toli. Generally in this connection it is necessary to have consent of 75% workers of the respective tolis in this connection."

25. In the light of that, these petitions can now be disposed of.

(1) In the light of the above, in Writ Petition No.1585 of 2005 Rule made absolute in as much as the Respondent-Board is directed to forthwith implement the decision taken at the 115th meeting of the Board held on 15th October, 2004 and further discharge all its statutory obligations and duties under the Mathadi Act and the Scheme framed thereunder.