New Delhi: In a landmark judgment that would give succour to lakhs of hapless Anganwadi employees in the country, the Supreme Court of India has given a ruling that the workers and helpers of Anganwadis are eligible for gratuity benefits.
The court also ordered that gratuity benefits should be disbursed to all eligible employees within three months with 10 per cent simple interest.
While interpreting the relevant clauses of the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, the Bench, consisting of judges Ajay Kumar Rastogi and Abhay S Oka, said that the gratuity law was applicable to Anganwadis.
The pre-schooling of children coming under the age of 3-6 is taken care of by the Anganwadis. It is academic and curriculum work. As per Section 11 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the State Government is running pre-school in Anganwadis. So, the Payment of Gratuity Act is applicable to Anganwadis, said Justice Abhay in his judgement.
Anganwadis are working as an arm of the government. Moreover, Anganwadi workers are shouldering responsibilities for the proper implementation of the provisions of the RTE Act and the Food Securities Act, the court said.
The judgment has also made it clear that there is legal sanctity for the posting of Anganwadi workers and helpers.
The court pointed out that the government should view the concerns of the Anganwadi workers seriously as they are getting a paltry sum which is not commensurating with the volume of work they do.
The Supreme Court's terms of reference was to see whether Anganwadis, which comes under the Central Government-sponsored Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), are liable to pay gratuity to its employees.
The controlling authority in Gujarat had earlier contended that gratuity would be applicable to Anganwadis. The Single Bench of the Gujarat High Court accepted the contention. But in an appeal filed by the District Development Officer, the Division Bench of the High Court nullified the Single Bench verdict.
Thereafter, various organisations and Anganwadis filed a case in the Supreme Court through advocates Sanjay Parikh, PV Surendranath and Subhash Chandran.
