S SIVAGURU Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SUCCESSFUL eradication of Leprosy by the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) made the services of the employees in the National Leprosy Eradication Programme redundant, leading to integration of those employees into Multi Purpose Health Worker Scheme, which, in turn, led to disputes relating to inter se seniority between the serving employees and the integrated employees in the said Scheme by way of these writ petitions.

(2.) PARA 1 of the Government Order in G.O. (Ms). No. 320, Health and Family Welfare (G-1) Department, dated 27.6.1997 gives the reason for integration and the same is extracted hereunder:

(3.) THE grievance of the absorbed Health Inspectors Grade - IB, i.e. the erstwhile Leprosy Inspectors, is that they should have been absorbed as Health Inspectors Grade I and there was no necessity to re-designate them as Health Inspectors Grade - IB and to re-designate the already serving Health Inspectors Grade -I as Health Inspectors Grade - IA and that they should have also been paid the scale of pay of Rs. 1,350-2,200 since both were discharging the same/ similar duties after integration into Public Health Services. THE Health Inspectors Grade - IB were demanding parity with Health Inspectors Grade - IA from the date of their absorption. Though their scale of pay was not brought on par with the Health Inspectors Grade - IA, the fixed travelling allowance paid to the Health Inspectors Grade - IB was brought on par with the fixed travelling allowance paid to Health Inspectors Grade - IA by increasing the amount from Rs. 140/- to Rs. 200/-. It is relevant to note that the Government decided to examine the question of merger of both the categories of Health Inspector Grade -IA and Grade - IB into a single category at the time of next Pay Commission.