SINGH - (1.) THIS is a petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India, filed by the petitioner Union on behalf of the employees of the Grih Kalyan Kendra for a declaration that the Grih Kalyan Kendra wherein the workers are employed is 'State' within the meaning of Art. 12 of the Constitution and for the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the Union of India and the respondents to pay regular pay scales in parity with other employees performing similar work under the Union of India like New Delhi Municipal Committee and other Departments of Delhi Administration.
(2.) GRIH Kalyan Kendra is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860. Its objectives as set out in the Memorandum of Association are as follows: "a) To promote social, economic, cultural and educational activities for the betterment of the Central Government employees and their families; b) To impart technical. and vocational training in home crafts and other household arts for useful utilisation of leisure time; and c) To organise and promote economic activities that may provide opportunities for gainful employment to families of Central Government employees for supplementing family incomes" For attaining the aforesaid objectives, the Kendra has been conducting various activities including: (i) holding of craft classes for training in cutting, tailoring and embroidering for the house-wives and grown-up girls during their leisure hours; (ii).imparting nursery education for children in the age group of 3 to.7 years; (iii) running of creches or day-care centres for children between the age of 90 days and 7 years; (iv) providing the recreational facilities like T.V. shows, libraries, gymnasia and in-door games and sports at the Samaj Sadans (Community Halls); (v) conducting stiching of liveries for Class III (Group C) and Class IV (Group D) employees of Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings. The Kendra runs 29 nursery centres, out of which 21 are in Delhi, 3 in Dehradun and one each at Faridabad, Nagpur, Jaipur, Bombay and Madras. It also runs 43 craft centres, out of which 23 are in Delhi 5 in Bombay, 8 in Madras, 2 in Dehradun and one each at Jaipur, Nagpur, Faridabad, Narela and Bahadurgarh. The Kendra also runs 19 centres for day-care called creches out of which 16 are in Delhi and one each at Faridabad, Madras and Jaipur. The Kendra conducts two production centres, one located at Delhi and the other at Madras. In these centres stitching of liveries for Class III and Class IV employees of Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings are undertaken with a view to provide gainful employment for dependent lady members of the Government servants. The Grih Kalyan Kendra is a welfare organisation working under the aegis of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Ministry of Home Affairs. The purpose and object of establishing the Kendras were to help needy Government servants especially those belonging to the lower income group by providing to their dependents opportunity of gainful work or training during their leisure time. The scheme stipulated to ensure that the dependents of such Government servants should be able to supplement to meagre income of the family and to acquire skill and experience for obtaining employment elsewhere. Initially, the employees of Kendra were paid honorarium only and at no time they had any regular scales of pay. Some of the employees who work at the Centres are paid on piece rate basis. The control and management of the Kendras vest in a Board which consist of officers of the Department of Personnel. The Union of India supplements the income of the Kendras by providing grants and monetary support. The employees of the Grih Kalyan Kendra fall in two broad categories; (i) regular staff taken on deputation from other Central Government offices who draw their salaries in regular scale of pay along with the deputation and other allowances as admissible to the Central Government employees; (ii) employees employed at the various centres of the Kendra on ad hoc basis some of whom have been working on fixed salary called honorarium while others are working on the piece rate wages at the production centres without there being any provision for any scale of pay and other benefits like, gratuity, pension, provident fund etc. The terms and conditions or tenure of service have not been regulated by any Rules framed by the Kendra. The services of the employees falling in the second category are terminable at any time at the sweet will of the officers of the Kendras. The petitioner has asserted that the employees of the Kendra are paid low wages and their salaries are far less than what is paid to the employees doing similar nature of work in the organisations like NDMC and other Departments of the Delhi Administration. It is asserted that the Kendra is a 'State' within the meaning of Art. 12 of the Constitution and therefore the respondents are under constitutional obligation to prescribe similar scales of pay as applicable to the employees of NDMC and Delhi Administration and who are doing the same work as-performed by the employees of the Kendra. The petitioner has claimed relief for declaring the Kendra to be an instrumentality of State and for the issue of a direction directing the respondents to pay equal pay as paid to the similar employees doing similar work in NDMC and other Departments of Delhi Administration, along with other benefits like gratuity, pension and provident fund. The petitioner's claim for equal pay as paid to the employees of NDMC and Delhi Administration is contested by the respondents. In the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the respondents, it is asserted that the Grih Kalyan Kendra was started as a welfare society with the aim of helping the needy Government servants especially those belonging to lower income group by providing to their dependents opportunity to gainful work, so that, they might be able to supplement the meagre income of their family and at the same time they may also gain skill and experience in order to improve their career elsewhere. Grih Kalyan Kendra was expected to be a stepping stone for such dependents of the poor Government servants and there was no intention to provide them with any regular employment. It is further stated that in the nature of things and in consonance with original aim the employees of the Grih Kalyan Kendra were expected to leave the organisation once they have acquired skill and experience and seek other opportunity of employment for the betterment of their career elsewhere. The employees of the Kendra were expected to leave the organisation once they lost the status of dependent of low paid Government employees. However, the employees of the Kendra have not met any of these expectations. Some of the employees once inducted into the organisation have continued for a number of years. The employees working in the Kendra are not regular employees and the duties performed by them are not comparable to any of the employees working under NDMC or any Department of Delhi Administration or under the Union of India. The status of the Kendra is a unique one where the work and duties performed by its employees are quite different in nature than those performed by the employees of NDMC and Delhi Administration.
(3.) SHRI Govind Mukhoty learned Counsel for the petitioner contended that though the Grih Kalyan Kendras are managed by the Board as contemplated by the Rules of the Registered Societies, the Union of India have the pervasive control over its functions, it is an instrumentality and agency of the Union Government and therefore it is a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution. He placed reliance on decisions of this Court in Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. International Airport Authority of India, (1979) 3 SCC 489: (AIR 1979 SC 1628); P. K. Ramachandra lyer v. Union of India, (1984) 2 SCC 141 : (AIR 1984 SC 541); B. S. Minhas v. Indian Statistical Institute, (1983) 4 SCC 582 : (AIR 1984 SC 363); Bihar State Harijan Kalyan Parishad v. Union of India, (1985) 2 SCC 644: (AIR 1985 SC 983); Surya Narain Yadav v. Bihar State Electricity Board, (1985) 3 SCC 38 : (AIR 1985 SC 941). We do not think it necessary to consider this question in detail as in our opinion given on an assumption that the Grih Kalyan Kendra is an instrumentality of a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution and the petitioners are entitled to enforce their fundamental rights against it, it is difficult to uphold this contention that the respondents have violated any of the fundamental rights of the petitioners. We accordingly proceed on the assumption that the Grih Kalyan Kendra is a State for the purposes of Chapter IV of the Constitution and consequently this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution is maintainable and the petitioners are entitled to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court for the enforcement of their fundamental right founded on the principle of equal pay for equal work. Equal pay for equal work is not expressly declared by the Constitution as a fundamental right but in view of the Directive Principles of State Policy as contained in Art. 39(d) of the Constitution "equal pay for equal work" has assumed the status of fundamental right in service jurisprudence having regard to the constitutional mandate of equality' in Arts. 14 and 16 of the Constitution. Equal pay for equal work and providing security for service by regularising casual employment within a reasonable period has been accepted by this Court as a constitutional goal to our socialistic pattern. It has ceased to be a judge made law as it is the part of the constitutional philosophy which ensures a welfare socialistic pattern of a State providing equal opportunity to all and equal pay for equal work for similarly placed employees of the State. This Court has zealously enforced the fundamental right of equal pay for equal work in effectuating the constitutional goal of equality and social justice in a number of decisions. See: Randhir Singh v. Union of India, (1982) 1 SCC 618: (AIR 1982 SC 879); Daily Rated Casual Labour Employed under P and T Department v. Union of India, (1988) 1 SCC 122 : (AIR 1987 SC 2342); Dhirendra Champli v. State of U.P., (1986) 1 SCC 637; Surrinder Singh v. Engineer-in-Chief, CPWD, 1986 (1) SCC 639: AIR 1986 SC 584., R. D. Gupta v. Lt. Governor, Delhi Administration, (AIR 1987 SC 2086): (1987) 4 SCC 505; Bhagan Dass v. State of Haryana, 1987 (4) SCC 634: (AIR 1987 SC 2049); Jaipal v. State of Haryana, (1988) 3 SCC 354 : (AIR 1988 SC 1504); Dharwad District P.W.D. Literate Daily Wage Employees Association v. State of Karnataka, (1990) 2 SCC 396. Therefore, the principle of equal pay for equal work even in an establishment which is an instrumentality of a State is applicable in its full vigour.;