SHAKUNTLA Vs. TAMANNA SPECIAL SCHOOL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner aggrieved by an industrial award dated 7th February, 2004 holding that the project on which she was engaged was not an "industry". From the facts proved on record, the petitioner herein was engaged as a helper with the job of cleaning one room utilised for educating slum children in 1992 and an additional room from 1999 coupled with the duty of filling a water pitcher intended for the children.

(2.) The respondent is a non-governmental organisation which commenced running a Balwadi project for giving children of Ekta Basti in R.K. Puram, Delhi which was named as the 'Badwadi Karyakram'. This project was being run in the slum and J.J. Clusters of the Ekta Vihar which was meant to give education to children of labourers, street vendors and house maids etc. The project was operating from one room. Only three people including the petitioner were engaged for the purpose. After some time, the parents of these slum children made an appeal to the Commissioner, MCD to allocate one more room for the project. The Tamana Association which was running the project also requested the officials of the MCD to grant some more space. Finally, vide a letter dated 4th March, 1999, use of one additional room was permitted for the purposes of the project by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

(3.) The respondents have placed material on record to the effect that funding for the project was primarily through donations and contributions from people from all walks of life who have concern for weaker sections of the society and families with low income groups who do not have the time and means to take care of their children or to ensure basic education to them. The parents of the children were required to pay a nominal contribution varying from Rs.5/- to Rs.10/- which was also not paid by most of the children. The money collected from such contributions was insufficient, it is stated, to run the project for even one week.