DAMODAR PRASAD MEENA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions involving common question are being decided by this common judgment. The facts are illustratively taken from CW No.1702/2010-Damodar Prasad Meena & Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. Some of the writ petitions are joint petitions, in which several petitioners, 498 to be precise, have joined the array of cause title and the respondents are State of Rajasthan and the Panchayati Raj Department of the State implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (Act of 2005).

(2.) The petitioners were given contractual employment in 2009 as Computer Operator with Machine ('COM' for short) in pursuance of the Advertisement issued by the Coordinator of the said Scheme at District Level-cum-District Collector(s) and were to be given fixed monthly honorarium of Rs.6,000/- per month for their working in various Panchayat Samiti(s) to undertake the work of feeding data/s relating to works of NREGS in the computers, to be bought by them with printers and upload these data/s on internet to the Government sites, where the State Government could compile such datas for taking further policy decision in this regard. The individual contracts of employment were entered on various dates in the year 2009 and the period of contract initially was stipulated to be a quarter or so, with a further stipulation that the said period of contract can be extended by mutual contract for a period of one year, but such extended period of contract will not exceed a total period of 5 years in any case, or the date of which the Scheme in question closes, whichever is earlier. The agreement also provided for a premature termination of the contract in case the work or services of such contractual (COM) was not found to be satisfactory.

(3.) The State Government by general orders extended the period of contracts up to 28.02.2010 and these petitioners indisputably have been working right from their initial date of contract but when their contracts were sought to be terminated or rather not extended after 28.02.2010, by an order issued by the Commissionercum- Secretary, Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) of the Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Department, Govt. of Rajasthan, vide order (Annex.6) dated 09.02.2010, wherein the State Government decided to recruit such COM(s) through specified companies, viz. CMS Computer Ltd., Shri Kripa Computers and HCL Info-system Ltd., the petitioners approached this Court by way of present writ petition and they were given interim protection by this Court directing the State Government not to discontinue their contractual employment in the position of COM(s). Those interim orders are continuing as of now.