IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL Writ Petition No. 803 of 2008 (S/S) Smt. Hema Devi Mishra ………..Petitioner. Versus State of Uttarakhand and others. ………Respondents. Present: Mr. S.S. Chaudhay, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. N.P. Sah, Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand/respondent nos. 1 to 4. Hon’ble Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.(Oral) Heard Mr. S.S. Chaudhary, 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 the “tentative select list” to be notified at various places including the Block Level Offices, so that if anybody wants to object to these selection, 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 objection 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 Dharatalla, P.O. Nand Keshari, Block Deval, District Chamoli. She was not selected and respondent no. 5 Smt. Deepa Devi was selected and appointed as “Angan Bari Worker” for the aforesaid “Angan Bari Centre”. Thereafter, the petitioner moved a representation before the District Programme Officer, Gopeshwar, District Chamoli which was rejected on the ground that she cannot be considered for selection as she is not a resident of same village. On the other hand, the petitioner contends that this rejection of the representation of the petitioner is on absolutely wrong grounds inasmuch as the petitioner belongs to the same “village panchayat”. The relevant Government Orders pertaining to the year in which the dispute arose have not been brought on record and subsequent Government Order dated 24th February, 2009 has been brought on record, which provides a mechanism for constitution of a forum to look into these matters. Although the Government Orders, reference of which have already been made above, may not be strictly applicable in the present case as they relate to a period after the appointment of respondent no. 5, yet since there is already a forum provided subsequently under the Government Order dated 24th February, 2009 this writ petition is disposed of with the direction to the petitioner to move a representation before the Appellate Authority, who shall pass a speaking order therein after hearing the petitioner as well as the present incumbent as expeditiously as possible but in any case beyond a period of eight weeks from the date of filing of such representation by the petitioner. Moreover, the scheme contained in Government Order dated 24.2.2009 4 is not a statutory scheme but is primarily based on principles of natural justice and fair play. It must be clarified that 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 Appellate Authority is hence directed to take a decision on this matter by passing a speaking order after hearing respondent no. 5 as well, 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 it. It is made clear that continuance of respondent no. 5 Smt. Deepa Devi will depend upon the final decision reached by the Appellate Authority. It is expected that the Appellate Authority will act with due fairness according to the principle of natural justice and fair play in accordance with law. With these observations, the writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. (Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.) 28.3.2011 Rathour