Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh on Wednesday said that it cannot ask the government to continue services of contractual employees without any work or their need.
A bench of Justice M. A. Chowdhary made the observation while rejecting a petition by 116 candidates, seeking court’s directions to the authorities to allow them complete a three years period of services in connection with two 500 bedded temporary Covid Hospitals in Jammu and Srinagar which have since been disbanded.
“This Court is of the considered opinion that once the Government has decided to close down the temporary hospitals, established in view of emergency related to Covid-19 pandemic, where the petitioners were contractually employed, the respondents (authorities) cannot be asked to continue their services as contractual employees without any work or their need,” the court said, adding, “In this view of the matter the petition to the extent of asking the relief to continue the petitioners for a period of three years, in view of the Government order dated 18.05.2021, cannot be granted.”
The petitioners submitted that they were appointed on contractual basis for a period of one year on the tenure based posts of Physicians, Anesthetists, Pediatricians, Medical Officer, Nursing and Paramedical and Technical staff, in terms of the Government Order No. 398-JK(HME) of 2021 dated 18.05.2021, vide which two 500 bedded temporary Covid Hospitals, one each at Jammu and at Srinagar were established. As per the order, 1366 posts had been created (683 posts for each Hospital), for making these two facilities operational, in collaboration with the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Ministry of Defense, Government of India.
The petitioners pleaded that they came to be engaged in terms of the respective engagement orders, when one year of contractual engagement of the petitioners came to an end in the year 2022, when in terms of communication No. ME-Gztd/198/2022 dated 08.08.2022, addressed by the Health and Medical Education Department of J&K Government, to the Principal Government Medical College Srinagar, on the approval of Administrative Department, providing for the grant of extension in the tenure of the engagement of the staff, actually on the rolls/ working in the 500 bedded Covid Hospital at Khunmoh Srinagar, which was accorded upto 31.12.2022.
The petitioners had also sought direction from the court to release Ayushman incentives as well as Covid incentives in terms of the Notification No. 01-HME of 2019 dated 19.01.2019 in favour of them.
“So far as the other reliefs, the respondents be directed to release Ayushman as well as Covid incentives in terms of the Notification No. 01-HME of 2019 dated 19.01.2019 in favour of the petitioners,” the court said.
The court also said the authorities can consider incorporating the condition in the future advertisement notice with regard to “05 numbers” as weightage as has been done in the previous advertisement notices had been given to the candidates, who were engaged for the period of three months in the Government Institute under the “Emergency Covid Response Programme (ECRP)” on contractual basis.
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