RAMBALI Vs. DIRECTOR, PUNJAB AGRI UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rambali and 45 others through present petition filed by them under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeks issuance of writ of mandamus directing respondents to remove anomaly in their emoluments and those of Beldars or Cattle Care-Takers who were working on regular basis in the campus of respondent-University. They also seek regularisation of their services.

(2.) The facts of the case as projected in the petition reveal that the petitioners have been working as Beldars or cattle care-takers in the establishment of Director, Punjab Agricultural University, Seed Farm, Ropar for the last ten years. Some of them have put in more than 14 years of service and they are still being treated as Daily Wage Workers and their services have not been regularised so far. It is on the basis of length of their service that they seek regularisation. They also seek equal pay for equal work on the basis of assertion made by them in the petition that work carried out by them is exactly the same as is being done by the Beldars or Cattle Care-takers in the establishment of respondent No. 1 i.e. Director, Punjab Agricultural University, Seed Farm, Ropar.

(3.) The cause of the petitioners has been opposed and in para No. 1 of the written statement filed on behalf of respondents, it has been pleaded that in fact the petitioners are daily paid labourers in Punjab Agricultural University and are working at Seed Farm at Ropar. They have been engaged for doing various unspecialised jobs e.g. to render help in Irrigation, Sowing, Harvesting, Hoeing and removal of weeds etc. Beldars, on the other hand, are appointed on regular basis and are classified as Technical (T-9). A regular Beldar is the lowest post in the line of promotion in the cadre of technical staff as per Annexure R1. These regular beldars carry out specialised operations in experiments on field and horticultural crops. They also assist Scientists and Senior Technical Staff in experimental data collection, seed preparation, planting experiments, execution of spray schedules, selfing and crossing etc. It is further pleaded that the job of Beldar is of technical nature and require responsible handling so that research findings are accurate and valid.