Supreme Court Upholds Himachal High Court’s Decision on Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Status
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The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Himachal Pradesh High Court regarding the status of mid-day meal workers. The Himachal High Court had ruled that mid-day meal workers are not considered government employees. Justices Hima Kohli and Rajesh Bindal’s bench rejected the plea filed by Prem Singh challenging the High Court’s decision.
On November 12, 2018, the High Court’s division bench had quashed a single bench’s decision, stating that mid-day meal workers are not government employees. The court had made it clear that employees appointed in any scheme of the central or state government do not fall under the definition of government employees. The appointment of a part-time water carrier had raised the challenge.
The argument was that the appointed candidate’s mother is a mid-day meal worker, and hence, the candidate couldn’t be awarded five additional marks for having a family member working in a government job. The single bench had canceled the appointment of Gaurav Thakur, claiming that mid-day meal workers are government employees.
Gaurav Thakur had contested this decision before the division bench. The division bench ruled against the decision of the single bench, stating that mid-day meal workers are not considered government employees. This ruling prevented Gaurav Thakur from receiving the additional five marks to fill the part-time water carrier position.
The controversy arose from the fact that Gaurav Thakur was not entitled to earn the five additional marks as a candidate since he did not have a family member working in a government job. Gaurav Thakur challenged this decision before the Supreme Court.
