Anganwadi Workers & Helpers Are Entitled To Payment Of Gratuity; Anganwadi Centres Are "Establishments" Under 1972 Act : Supreme Court

In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has held that Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers are entitled to the payment of gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972."The 1972 Act will apply to Anganwadi centres and in turn to AWWs(Anganwadi Workers) and AWHs(Anganwadi Helpers)", a bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and Abhay S Oka held while allowing the appeals filed against a judgment delivered by a division bench of the Gujarat High Court."Within a period of three months from today, necessary steps shall be taken by the concerned authorities in the State of Gujarat under the 1972 Act to extend benefits of the said Act to the eligible AWWs and AWHs. We direct that all eligible AWWs and AWHs shall be entitled to simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date specified under subsection 3A of Section 7 of the 1972 Act", the Court directed.The issue involved in these appeals was whether Anganwadi workers and Anganwadi helpers appointed to work in Anganwadi centres set up under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (for short "ICDS") are entitled to gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (for short "the 1972 Act"). The ICDS is a Central Government scheme implemented by the State Governments.The appellants were Anganwadi workers and/or their organisations. The Controlling Authority under the 1972 Act held that they are entitled to gratuity. This finding was affirmed by a single bench of the Gujarat High Court. However, the division bench of the High Court, on appeals filed by District Development Officer, set aside the single bench verdict.The Division Bench held that AWWs and AWHs could not be said to be employees as per Section 2(e) of the 1972 Act, and the ICDS project cannot be said to be an industry. It was held that as the remuneration or honorarium paid to them cannot be treated as wages within the meaning of Section 2(s) of the 1972 Act, they are disentitled to gratuity.Supreme Court's analysis : Anganwadi workers performing statutory dutiesThe main judgment authored by Justice Oka at the outset noted that Anganwadi centres are performing the statutory duty of implementing provisions of Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 to ensure nutritional support for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children.The judgment also noted that as per a resolution issued by the Gujarat Governemnt, one of the important functions of Anganwadi centres is to conduct preprimary education activities for the children of the age group of 3 to 6 years by following the preschool timetable and by using the preschool kit. For giving effect to Section 11 of the RTE Act, a provision has been made by the State Government to conduct preprimary schools for children above the age of three years in the Anganwadi centre.In this backdrop, Justice Oka observed that Angwadi workers and helpers are holding a statutory post :"In view of the provisions of the 2013 Act and Section 11 of the RTE Act, Anganwadi centres also perform statutory duties. Therefore, even AWWs and AWHs perform statutory duties under the said enactments. The Anganwadi centres have, thus, become an extended arm of the Government in view of the enactment of the 2013 Act and the Rules framed by the Government of Gujarat. The Anganwadi centres have been established to give effect to the obligations of the State defined under Article 47 of the Constitution. It can be safely said that the posts of AWWs and AWHs are statutory posts".The Gujarat High Court Division Bench had relied on a 2007 judgment in the case State of Karnataka versus Ameerbi (2007) 11 SCC 681 which had held that Anganwadi workers were not holding a civil post for the application of service rules under Article 311 of the Constitution.Justice Oka observed that the Ameerbi decision was not relevant to this case, in the light of the changes brought by the Food Security Act 2013 to recognize the statutory role of Anganwadi workers."In view of the 2013 Act, AWWs and AWHs are no longer a part of any temporary scheme of ICDS. It cannot be said that the employment of AWWs and AWHs has temporary status. In view of the changes brought about by the 2013 Act and the aforesaid Rules framed by the Government of Gujarat, the law laid down by this Court in the case of Ameerbi will not detain this Court any further from deciding the issue. For the reasons stated above, the decision in the case of Ameerbi will not have anybearing on the issue involved in these appeals", the judgment stated.Plight of AWWSs and AWHsThe judgment then went on to discuss the plight of AWWs and AWHs. Considering the nature of duties specified thereunder, it is fulltime employment. In the State of Gujarat, AWWs are being paid monthly remuneration of only Rs.7,800/ and AWHs are being paid monthly remuneration of only Rs.3,950/. AWWs working in miniAnganwadi centres are being paid a sum of Rs.4,400/ per month."For all this, they are being paid very meagre remuneration and paltry benefits...

Anganwadi Workers & Helpers Are Entitled To Payment Of Gratuity; Anganwadi Centres Are "Establishments" Under 1972 Act : Supreme Court

Manu Sebastian

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