Odisha Govt Bound To Regularize Services Of Workers After 6 Years: HC

Cuttack: In a landmark judgement, the Orissa High Court has said the state government is bound to regularize the employees who have completed six years of service.

Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi issued the directive to the state government on Wednesday while hearing a petition filed by a group of health workers.

According to the case records, the office of the Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO), Nayagarh had issued a notification for the recruitment of multiple male health workers against the vacant permanent posts on the basis of the recommendation of the selection committee in 2006.

However, the Health and Family Welfare Department in notifications issued in 2008 and 2013 had announced the regularization of service of pharmacists, staff nurses, technicians and radiographers who have completed six years of service. But there was no mention of the regularization of services of the health workers who had completed 15 years of service.

Challenging the notification, some male health workers had moved the Odisha Administrative Tribunal (OAT) which directed the state government to regularize the services of the male health workers who have completed six years of their service.

Although the state government regularized the services of the health workers in some districts, it later filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the OAT order.

Later, the Health and Family Welfare Department, in a letter to all CDMOs on November 27, 2020, had directed them to cancel the OAT order for regularization of the health workers.

Challenging the directive of the government, the health workers filed a writ petition in the High Court.

The court in its order maintained that as the state government has regularized the services of the pharmacists, staff nurses, technicians and radiographers who have completed six years of service, the reasons cited by it to deprive the health workers of the same benefits are unacceptable.

The court while rejecting the contention that the health workers are not the para-medical staff, directed the state government to accept the health workers as regular employees who have completed six years of service.