IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL Writ Petition No. 1138 of 2010 (S/S) Smt. Vinakshi @ Minakshi ………..Petitioner. Versus State of Uttarakhand and others. ………Respondents. Present: Mr. Tapan Singh, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. N.P. Sah, Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand/respondent nos. 1 to 3. Hon’ble Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.(Oral) Heard Mr. Tapan Singh, Advocate for the petitioner and Mr. N.P. Sah, Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand. Under a Scheme started in the erstwhile State of Uttar Pradesh, somewhere in late 80s, which continued in the State of Uttarakhand, “Angan Bari Workers” are appointed in “Angan Bari Centres”, which are situated almost in all villages. It is a village level appointment made by the concerned Child Development Project Officer. The selection and appointment procedure of “Angan Bari Karyakatri”, “Sahayika Angan Bari Karyakatri” and “Mini Angan Bari Karyakatri” are presently governed by various Government Orders but primarily by Government Orders dated 24th February, 2009, 3rd September, 2009 and 31st May, 2010. The main scheme today is given in a Government Order issued by the Government of Uttarakhand on 24th February, 2009. These are all admitted facts. As per the said Government Orders, reference whereof has already been given above, a selection 2 committee at Block Level is first constituted. A procedure is prescribed for constituting this Selection Committee. Thereafter procedure is also prescribed how the various vacancies of “Angan Bari Workers” will be advertised for all the “Angan Bari Centres” and how the selection will be made by the Selection Committee and what will be the eligibility as well as the priorities given to a candidate in this selection. It will be needless to elaborate on this aspect at the present juncture. As per the procedure prescribed in the Government Order dated 24th February, 2009, the Selection Committee shall publish a “tentative select list”, to be notified at various places including the Block Level Offices, so that if anybody wants to raise objections on these selections, he or she would be free to make such objections. The cases where no objections are made, the tentative selection list becomes final and the Child Development Project Officer issues appointment letter to such a candidate. In cases where objections are received, the matter is referred to the Appellate Authority, which is constituted under the Government Order dated 24th February, 2009. The body of the Appellate Authority constituted is as follows: “1. Chief Development Officer- Chairman 2. A person nominated by the District Magistrate, who must be at least Class-II Officer, and, 3. District Programme Officer, who will be the member Secretary of this appellate body. The Appellate Authority after considering the objections passes appropriate order therein. The Appellate Authority has to take a decision on this matter within 15 days as per the Government Order dated 24.2.2009. 3 The petitioner was a candidate for “Angan Bari Worker” for “Angan Bari Centre Bindalnadi, Govindgarh, Ward No. 57, Dehradun. All the same, instead of selecting her the selection committee had selected respondent no. 4 and subsequently she has been given appointment. Consequently, the petitioner moved a representation before the Child Development Project Officer, City Dehradun, District Dehradun. However, he rejected the representation of the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner’s candidature has not been considered for the reasons that in her application form she has shown her name as “Minakshi”, in some of the documents annexed with the application form such as Voter Identity Card as well as Ration Card the name is Minakshi Kalyani whereas in education certificates her name is mentioned as “Vinakshi”. The petitioner contends that prior to her marriage her name was Minakshi which was subsequently changed to Vinakshi after her marriage. The petitioner further contends that being a widow she has a priority to be appointed as “Angan Bari Worker”. Be that as it may, the writ petition is disposed of with the direction that the petitioner will move a representation before the Child Development Project Officer, City Dehradun, district Dehradun for redressal of her grievance, who shall pass a speaking order therein after hearing the petitioner as well as present incumbent i.e. respondent no. 4. It is expected that the Child Development Project Officer, City Dehradun, district Dehradun will act with due fairness according to the principle of natural justice and fair play in accordance with law. 4 It must be clarified that though an appointment of an “Angan Bari Worker” is only under a Government Scheme yet for those “Angan Bari workers” who are so appointed, it carries a great meaning as the candidates for this work belong to the deprived or rather financially insecure stratum of our society who reside in a village. Even amongst them, in most cases, they are widows, divorced women, etc. The Child Development Project Officer, City Dehradun, district Dehradun is hence directed to take a decision on this matter by passing a speaking order as expeditiously as possible but in no case beyond a period of eight weeks from the date a representation along with certified copy of this order is produced before him. With these observations, the writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. (Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.) 28.3.2011 Avneet