CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has directed Odisha Grameen Bank to frame a scheme within four months to regularise the services of 20 employees engaged on a temporary basis in various branches across the state.
Considering a batch of four writ petitions filed in 2019, Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy on Wednesday quashed the bank’s May 27, 2019, order rejecting the employees’ claims for regularisation. The high court said their services should be regularised against the relevant posts or posts of a similar nature under the proposed scheme, with due regard to seniority.
The petitioners were engaged at different times as drivers, sweepers, messengers, DTP operators, IT electricians and IT networking and hardware workers. They continued working on a temporary basis in different branches of the bank, which operates around 500 branches across the state.
They argued that the engagement of sweepers and messengers in regional rural banks had often been made through contractors, service providers or at the discretion of individual branch managers, rather than under the Regional Rural Banks (Appointment and Promotion of Officers and Other Employees) Rules, 1987.
They also cited a National Industrial Tribunal award dated April 30, 1990, which directed the regularisation of temporary or part-time sweeper-cum-messengers from the date of their initial continuance. The tribunal was constituted by the Centre following directions from the Supreme Court on issues concerning regularisation and pay parity for such workers.
Opposing the petitions, the bank contended that several employees had sought regularisation after working for only two to five years. The bank also pointed out that the petitioners were continuing in service only because of interim protection granted by the high court during the pendency of their cases. Therefore, it argued, they could not claim regularisation.
The high court after considering the submissions took note of the tribunal’s award and decisions of the Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tripura high courts concerning similar employees in regional rural banks.
Justice Satapathy held that the Odisha Grameen Bank was required to frame a scheme for regularisation, taking guidance from the scheme formulated by Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikash Bank.
The Judge directed the bank to complete the exercise within four months of receiving the order.
