NISHA MATHUR Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This lot of writ petitions is being disposed of by this common judgment and all the present petitioners are working as Auxiliary Nurse Midwife ('ANM') who are now called Health Workers (Female).

(2.) The rai-son d?tre of the petitioners before this Court is their claim for regularisation in service, since they have worked for more than 10 years on continuous basis without any break in service, even though appointed on contractual basis initially but against the duly sanctioned posts of ANM under different advertisements issued by different Chief Medical and Health Officers of different districts. The factual aspects of the case are not in dispute from the side of the respondents and the undisputed facts in, nutshell, on the basis of which, the claim of the petitioners for regularisation is based are that the petitioners were appointed after due selection process against the sanctioned vacancies; they possess the prescribed qualifications to be appointed as Nurses or ANM and are duly registered with the Rajasthan Nursing Council and that they have served for more than 10 years without any break in service in the respondent Medical and Health Department and finally that their services so far have been unblemished in the Annual Appraisal Reports filled up by their Incharge of the respective Primary Health Centres or Community Health Centres where they were so working and assigned the duties to work as ANMs.

(3.) The following facts of the case are illustratively taken from CWP No. 2329/2014:Smt. Nisha Mathur & Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. The appointment order dated 05.05.2003 (Annex. 6) indicates that the petitioners in the list of the said appointment order were appointed on contractual basis against 173 posts of Health Workers (Female) notified by the Chief Medical and Health Officer, Jodhpur were selected under the advertisement dated 08.04.2003 (Annex.5) by the Selection Committee headed by the District Collector, Jodhpur and their appointment order also indicates that their appointment is purely temporary or on ad-hoc basis initially for a period of six months or till the end of the project known as "Reproduction and Child Health Project" ('RCH') and on a monthly fixed honorarium of Rs. 3,500/-. The merit list was prepared on the recommendations of the said Selection Committee and on that basis various persons like the present petitioners were so appointed as ANMs/ Health Workers under the said project of RCH.