BALKAR SINGH Vs. PRESIDING OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order will dispose of the aforementioned four writ petitions, as the cause they espouse and the factual and legal issues involved is common and identical and, therefore, they can conveniently be decided by a single order. However, for a facility of reference, the facts are picked up from CWP No.1843 of 2017.

(2.) Government of India implemented a scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for carrying out seasonal work of plantation under the purview of the Forest Department, Haryana. The scheme remained in force for the period 008.2007 till 18.11.2010. The scheme guarantees employment of only 100 days in a financial year to every household falling in the rural areas. The scheme was seasonal in nature with the workman were called as and when required.

(3.) The burden of proof of completing 240 days in a year was on the workmen to discharge. Apart from stepping into the witness-box to make their oral depositions, the workmen failed to produce any evidence of continuous employment in terms of Sec. 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for short 'the Act'). For instance, Balkar Singh - petitioner in CWP No.1843 of 2017 worked for only 120 days in the year 2008 and 171 days in the year 2009 for which work done payments were made directly in the bank account of the workmen. The muster rolls were maintained as per Government of Haryana letter dated 06.07.2000 only under the MGNREGA scheme. However, the record for the period was damaged in a flood. In this regard, DDR No.17 dated 008.2010 was lodged in Police Station Baldev Nagar, Ambala City by the department.