Sandeep Mehta, J. - (1.) HEARD learned counsel for the parties.
(2.) THE instant bunch of writ petitions is preferred by the petitioners prosecuting a common cause of action and praying for an identical relief and are thus being decided together by this common order. The petitioners herein were all engaged on contractual basis on various posts viz. Accounts Assistant etc. in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) being run jointly by the Central Government and the State Government. The initial document which was executed for engaging the petitioners on contract basis was of one year duration whereafter, the contract period was extended from time to time. It is admitted case of the parties that the petitioners have been satisfactorily serving the respondents on contractual basis for last nearly 5 years. In order to provide an avenue of substantive employment to such contractual employees who were serving under NREGS and like schemes for a fairly long period, the State Government, through various Zila Parishads issued districtwise advertisements dated 14.2.2013 under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996 (for short, 'the Rules of 1996') inviting applications from the aspirants for appointment on the post of L.D.C. The eligibility criterion for selection under the advertisement was as below: - - Senior Secondary from a recognized board or its equivalent examination, Or "O" or Higher Level Certificate Course conducted by DOEACC under control of the Department of Electronics, Government of India. Or Computer Operator & Programming Assistant (COPA)/Data Preparation and Computer Software (DPCS) certificate Organised under National/State Council of Vocational Training Scheme. Or Diploma in Computer Science/Computer Applications from a University established by law in India or from an institution recognized. Or Diploma in Computer Science and Engineering from a Polytechnic Institute approved from State Government. Or Certified course in R.S.C.I.T. conducted by Vardhman Mahaveer Open University, Kota. In addition thereto, the bonus marks were provided for experience gained by the applicants during their contractual stints with the respective Zila Parishads in NREG Scheme or like schemes viz. Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan etc."
(3.) BEING entitled and eligible for appointment, the petitioners herein applied against the advertised posts.;