D PADMANABHAN Vs. STATE OF TAMILNADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AMONG the employees of the Public Works Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu, is a section designed as Work Charged employees of "work Charged Establishment. " The members of the Work Charged Establishment are employed upon the actual execution of a specific work, or sub-work of a specific project, or upon the supervision of departmental labour, stores and machineries, in connection with such a work or sub-work. Their pay and allowances are paid from the estimate amount of the concerned work. As such, the members are classified under Work Charged Establishment, and they are governed by the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department Code.

(2.) THE employees recruited by the Department were originally intended for the duration of the particular work, but in practice, except in very rare instances, the work charged employees on completion of the specified project or work were employed in another work without any break. These members of the Work Charged Establishment were paid monthly pay and allowances and not rated as casual labourers. Even when there was no immediate work, they are kept on the pay rolls and paid on monthly basis on time scales of pay. But these persons were not governed by any statutory rules. They were governed by the provisions in paragraphs 5 to 62 of the Public Works Department Code.

(3.) THE position of these employees reviewed by the Government time and again. By G. O. Ms. No. 95, P. W. D. , dated 9-1-1971, the Government directed that the members of the establishment, who have been in service for over five years as on 24th November, 1970, should be provincialised with effect from the said date. These provincialised work charged employees were also made eligible for time scales of pay, leave, joining time, contributory provident fund benefit in lieu of gratuity, house rent allowance, and other benefits, privileges and concessions, which are available to the members of the regular establishment. Members who were under the nonprovincialised work charged establishment are entitled to gratuity at the time of their retirement, instead of contributory provident fund.