Upset with the labour department ignoring the judicial orders, the Jharkhand High Court today directed the Chief Secretary to take action against all those officials who had been posted in the labour department after August, 2013 replacing them with vibrant and energetic ones.
A division bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Amitabh Gupta was hearing a PIl filed by the National Domestic Worker’s Welfare Trust for implementing schemes under Domestic Workers Social Security Act.“The court disappointed over the state government failing to submit copy of the schemes being run in the State, commented that the Secretary along with the other officers are lethargic, either they are not willing to work or they do not want to work,” said petitioner’s advocate Anup Kumar Agrawal. According to Agrawal, the court since August 2013 has passed more than 12 orders seeking copy of the schemes which are being run in the State, but the department failed to provide them.
“The Secretary was to appear personally before the court today, instead a Deputy Secretary was present in the court with the pamphlets and other documents but did not bring the copy of the schemes the court had sought for,” Agrawal said.It said that the court has to tell the officials from where it could be obtained, if they do not have it, added Agrawal.
The court also asked the Chief Secretary to file an affidavit giving all details about the money received and spent by them along with the details of beneficiaries in those schemes, said Agrawal.Passing an order for the Government of India, the court asked it to file an affidavit that utilization certificate of how many schemes have been submitted to it, and in what stages, Agrawal added. The case will be heard next on May 6.
The court in its oral observation also said that that this time it was in a requesting mode, but if the Chief Secretary fails to file reply on the next date, it may also pass dismissal orders against them, Agrawal said. Remarkably, there are a total of 10 schemes under the Act, of which 9 are being run while 10thscheme is yet to be started in the State.
The PIl has been filed seeking implementation of the 10thscheme related to unorganised workers in the State.
