Indore (Madhya Pradesh): In a major relief to hundreds of daily-wage workers employed by Nagar Palika Parishad, Nagda, Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld Industrial Tribunal’s order directing their regularisation under the State Government’s 2016 policy and payment of arrears from September 1, 2016.
A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Binod Kumar Dwivedi passed a common order disposing of a batch of over 25 miscellaneous petitions.
The court dismissed petitions filed by Nagar Palika Parishad challenging the Industrial Tribunal’s award dated September 30, 2024, which had granted the benefit of regularisation and pay arrears to the daily wagers.
The High Court noted that the workers had been engaged between 1982 and 2014 and had continued working as daily-rated employees, thus qualifying under the State’s circular dated October 7, 2016, which provides for granting ‘permanent employee’ status to long-serving daily wagers in local bodies.
While upholding the Tribunal’s decision, the bench observed that Nagda Municipal Council had failed to comply with the award or to effectively contest the calculations of arrears submitted by the workers before the Labour Commissioner, resulting in a recovery order of Rs1.95 crore against the civic body.
However, considering that public funds are involved, the Court remanded the matter to additional Labour commissioner, Indore, to recalculate the amount payable to each worker after verifying wage records and pay slips. The Nagar Palika has been directed to submit its calculations within 45 days. Failing this, the recovery order will stand executed and prosecution proceedings against the Chief Municipal Officer (CMO) will proceed.
The court also directed the Nagda civic body to immediately implement the 2016 regularisation policy.
In a significant related observation, the bench extended the benefit of regularisation to additional petitioners whose claims had earlier been rejected by the Tribunal. The Court held that workers employed after May 16, 2007, but serving as of September 1, 2016, are also entitled to the same benefit, referring to the Supreme Court judgment in Ram Naresh Rawat vs. Ashwini Ray (2017) 3 SCC 436.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the petitions filed by the Nagar Palika Parishad and allowed those of the aggrieved workers, ensuring they receive the status of permanent employees and related financial benefits in line with the State’s uniform policy for daily wagers.
