Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, November 25
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that Punjab being a welfare state was expected to release payment expeditiously to Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) employees regularised this week after observing that they had been agitating since 2012 and the cost of living has gone up tremendously in past years.
The assertion came after Justice Jaishree Thakur’s Bench was, among other things, told that ex-post facto approval for regularisation of 53 Class-IV daily wagers and nine daily wage clerks working with the board was granted on November 22.
Justice Thakur was hearing four petitions against the board and other respondents by Balwinder Singh and other petitioners. They were seeking directions for granting consequential benefits after their regularisation by the board. It was added that the petitioners were facing great hardship following irregular payments.
Justice Thakur observed the board Chairman, and Principal Secretary, School Education, were required to be present in the court during the pendency of the proceedings to resolve the issue, especially taking into consideration that the petitioners were working at a meagre monthly salary of about Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000.
Justice Thakur also observed an affidavit filed by Gauri Parasher Joshi, Special Secretary to Government of Punjab, Department of School Education, reflected that the petitioners’ claim in all the four petitions had been considered and stood resolved by giving an ex-post facto approval.
Taking the affidavit on record, Justice Thakur asserted the only surviving question was regarding the release of monetary benefits due to the petitioners. “Since the petitioners, seeking regular pay scales have been agitating since 2012 and the cost of living in the index has gone up tremendously in the past years, they are certainly facing a financial crunch. In such a background, when they have been held entitled to the benefits flowing from regularisation as claimed, it would be expected of a welfare state, of which the board is also the part and parcel, to expedite the release of the payments to them”
Before parting, Justice Thakur directed the adoption of all the necessary steps to release the benefits to the petitioners, expeditiously, with the outer limit of two months.
