JAGANNATH MONDAL Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner in this writ petition dated january 24th, 2005 is aggrieved by the decision of the Director, panchayats and Rural Development, West Bengal dated December 22nd, 2004 that he is not entitled to get any benefit as part-time homoeopathic medical officer working in the dispensary set up by Kashinagar Gram panchayat, South 24 Parganas.

(2.) THE Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, government of West Bengal issued a memo dated March 27th, 1978 introducing the scheme for providing the Anchals, i. e. the Gram panchayats of the state with homeopathic dispensaries. Guidelines for execution of the scheme were issued by the joint secretary of that department by his memo dated September 17th, 1983. The scheme was to be operated jointly by the health and family welfare department and the department of panchayats and rural development. Prescribing the conditions for appointment of part-time homoeopathic medical officer and compounder, the assistant secretary of the department of health and family welfare issued a memo dated May 23rd, 1988. The conditions were prescribed in exercise of power conferred on the government by the provisions in sections 160 (3) and 212 of the West Bengal Panchayats act, 1973.

(3.) IN terms of the scheme each Gram Panchayat was to be provided with one homoeopathic dispensary with one part-time homoeopathic doctor and one part-time homceopathic compounder-cum-dresser. The Gram Panchayat intending to set up such a state aided homoeopathic dispensary was to select the site, name the doctor and the compounder with requisite qualification, and forward the proposal in the form of a resolution to the Panchayat Samity concerned. After examining the proposal, the Panchayat Samity was to recommend it to the Zilla parishad, and the Zilla Parishad, in turn, was to forward the proposal, after examining it in detail, to the department of health and family welfare of the Government. The dispensary was to become operative only after acceptance of the proposal was communicated to the Zilla parishad by the department of health and family welfare.