- (1.) BY a notification dated May 4, 2007 the Department of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare, Government of West Bengal, accorded sanction for setting up of 17,512 additional Anganwadi Centers and creation of 700 posts of Supervisors @ one Supervisor for twenty-five additional Anganwadi Centers, 17,512 posts of Anganwadi workers and 17,512 posts for Anganwadi Helpers with effect from the date of their actual joining up to February 28, 2010. The notification further stated that the Governor had been pleased to issue guidelines for setting up of these additional Anganwadi Centers according to which priority was to be given in the villages/localities predominantly inhabited by the population belonging to the ST/SC and minority Community. The notification also stated that the Governor had been pleased to direct that the candidates in the existing panels of Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers, if any, should be appointed after observing all necessary formalities for early operationalisation of the Anganwadi Centers. It was further directed that in the event of exhaustion of the existing panels all necessary steps should be taken immediately for filling up of the remaining posts of Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers following a departmental Memo of 2006.
(2.) THE writ petitioners state that the respondent No. 6, i.e., THE Child Development Project Officer, Dinhata-II, ICDS Project, Dinhata, Cooch Bihar, issued a notice dated June 18, 2007 for appointment of fifty-nine Anganwadi Helpers and four Anganwadi workers apart from twelve Anganwadi Workers for Dinhata-II Child Development Project which would be filled up from the Anganwadi Helpers by way of promotion. THE requisite qualification and conditions for appointment were laid down in the said notice. Pursuant to that the petitioners applied for the posts of Anganwadi Helpers in the prescribed form and accordingly the petitioners by letter dated July 25, 2007 were called for an interview to be held on August 9, 2007 and August 14, 2007 respectively. It is learnt from the writ petition that the Selection Committee prepared a panel of eleven candidates of Anganwadi Helpers for the concerned area. From the Final Judgment Sheet, annexed to the writ petition as Annexure P-4, the names of the writ petitioners appear in Serial Nos. 8, 9, 10, and 11 respectively and this was approved by the Chairman of the Selection Committee. All these were in respect of Burirhat I Gram Panchayat under Dinhata Block- II and out of these eleven candidates seven were already appointed. The four petitioners were, however, not so fortunate. The further allegation of the writ petitioners is that by a subsequent Memo, dated August 7, 2009 the department of Women and Child Development & Social Welfare, Government of West Bengal notified that the Governor had been pleased to accord sanction for setting up of 25,018 additional Anganwadi Centers and creation of 1001 posts of Supervisors @ one Supervisors for twenty-five Anganwadi Centers, 25,018 posts of Anganwadi Workers and 25,018 posts of Anganwadi Helpers. Apart from issuing the guidelines for setting up of the additional Anganwadi Centers it was specifically mentioned that the Governor had further been pleased to direct that the candidates in the existing panels of the Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers, if any, should be appointed immediately after observing all necessary formalities for operationalisation of the Anganwadi Centers. Annexure P-6 is the Memo issued by the respondent No. 6 whereby applications were invited from eligible candidates for filling up posts of 126 Anganwadi Helpers and 9 Anganwadi Workers by way of direct recruitment under the ICDS project in Block Dinhata-II, Cooch Bihar.
(3.) THE grievance of the writ petitioners is that the concerned respondents did not give appointment to the petitioners from the existing panel which was prepared on December 20, 2007 but had issued a notice for further fresh recruitment by a Memo, dated February 8, 2010. THE writ petitioners have challenged this Memo as being contrary to the earlier Government notification. THE petitioners have inter alia prayed for issue of a writ of Mandamus to cancel or rescind the notice dated February 8, 2010, annexed to the writ petition as Annexure P- 6, not to give any appointment on its basis and not to give effect to the said notice and to give appointment to the writ petitioners on the basis of the panel prepared on December 20, 2007. This writ petition was moved before this Court on May 17, 2010 when this Court had inter alia directed notice to be issued to the respondents to show cause as to why appropriate relief should not be granted to the petitioners. It was also ordered that if the respondents had already started the process of selection as per the notice dated February 8, 2010 it would be desirable to direct them to keep four posts open so that in the event the petitioners succeeded in the writ petition there shall no complication. It appears from the order that when this writ petition was moved the petitioners had submitted an Affidavit of Service in court. The matter again appeared as a Motion on June 16, 2010 and by the order passed on that date the court recorded that the order passed on May 17, 2010 was duly communicated to the concerned respondents; but in spite of the same the respondents did not appear on that date.;