Chennai: The Madras high court has directed the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University in Coimbatore, to declare five days a week system to permanent mazdoors.
“However, it is open to the University to extract work from these mazdoors on need basis in declared holidays, Saturdays and Sundays.
However, in lieu thereof, all these mazdoors/employees shall be permitted to avail compensatory leave as allowable to other employees”, said Justice R.Suresh Kumar.
Passing orders on a petition from Tamil Nadu Agriculture University Worker’s Union, the judge quashed a circular issued by the University in 2003, making it compulsory to the mazdoors, who are permanent in nature also to work 6 days per week.
The judge said the aforesaid system of 5 days a week shall immediately be adopted by the University and accordingly their compensatory leave shall also be regulated and be permitted. "It is made clear that the system of 5 days a week or six days a week working days, compensatory holidays etc., will no way be made applicable to casual employees/daily rated wage employees, who are not getting wages on monthly basis by way of time scale of pay. In so far as such kind of casual and daily rated wages employees, they shall be paid with the daily rated wage based on the minimum wage to be fixed by the university on par with the government rate made from time to time", the judge added.
The judge said certainly there was some force in the submissions made by Abdul Saleem, the standing counsel for the University. As the working days were concerned, the principle of 5 days work or 6 days work, whatever may be, could not be made applicable to the daily rated wages employees or casual employees.
However, the mazdoors whose services were permanent in nature and whose services were to be treated on par with last grade government servants or whose services were already regularized and for whose service they have already granted time scale of pay, definitely they should be treated on par with permanent employees, in respect of these service conditions, especially the working days and leave availability of these employees, the judge added.
