The High Court on Thursday quashed the selection of 7,194 anganawadi workers to some of the new anganawadi centres during 2006-07 and 2007-08 and directed the State government to make fresh selection within six months following the guidelines formulated for the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) by the Centre.
Allowing a batch of writ petitions by T J Manjamma and several other non-selected aspirants of anganawadi workers’ posts, and some members and office-bearers of panchayat institutions, Justice D V Shailendra Kumar opined that the very involvement of legislators in selection committees was contrary to the guidelines and spirit of the ICDS.
The court quashed the July 15, 2006 GO making MLAs as chairpersons and MLCs as members of selection committees.
The petitioners had challenged the validity of involving legislators in selection procedure as well as the propreity of selections made to certain specific anganawadi centres.
The scheme involves annual budget of Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore and its right implementation will be affected by the “arbitrary, illogical and irrational act” of the State, it observed.
The Court directed the government to ensure that fresh selection process is completed within six months to all 11,313 centres.
Of them, 7,194 centres have already become functional, it noted and clarified that till fresh selections are completed, the present incumbents shall be continued.
However, the Court said that the fresh selections be confined to the earlier applicants alone - after noting that fresh notification for inviting applications would be a gigantic task incurring huge expenditure, apart from affecting many of the earlier selected candidates’ rights, many of whom could now be beyond the precribed upper age limit.
The Court imposed a monetary burden on the State government by directing it to pay compensatory costs of Rs 2,000 to each of the 150 and odd petitioners.
Contempt notice
Some selections were finalised in disregard to the Court’s stay order in one of the petitions, the Court observed, while, directing the HC Registrar to issue contempt notice to State Women and Child Development department and president of Anganawadi Workers Selection Committee of Srinivasapur taluk, Kolar district.
