Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 8 : The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to grant revised pay scales to 58 Health Educators of the Health Department with effect from October 1, 2012, holding that their higher promotional post could not be placed at a pay structure lower than or equal to that of the feeder cadre.
A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma set aside the state Finance Department's notification dated January 30, 2016, through which Health Educators were granted the higher grade pay prospectively from February 1, 2016.
The court held that equating the promotional post of Health Educator with the lower feeder post of Multipurpose Health Supervisor was arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
The petitioners had initially approached the State Administrative Tribunal in 2016, and the matter was subsequently transferred to the High Court.
Under the Recruitment and Promotion Rules of 1999, Health Educator is a higher promotional post requiring graduation along with a Diploma in Health Education. Seventy-five per cent of the posts are required to be filled through promotion from the cadre of Health Supervisors.
Following the 2009 pay revision, Health Educators were placed in the pay band of Rs 10,300-34,800 with a Grade Pay of Rs 3,800, while Health Supervisors, who constituted the feeder cadre, were granted the same pay band with a Grade Pay of Rs 3,600.
However, through a notification issued on September 28, 2012, the government enhanced the Grade Pay of Health Supervisors to Rs 4,200 with effect from October 1, 2012. This resulted in the feeder cadre receiving a higher Grade Pay than the promotional post of Health Educator.
The court noted that an Expert Committee had acknowledged the pay anomaly in 2015. Despite this, the state government issued the January 30, 2016 notification granting Health Educators the Rs 4,200 Grade Pay only prospectively from February 1, 2016.
The government also sought to describe the movement to the post as "placement" instead of "promotion", without amending the statutory Recruitment and Promotion Rules.
The High Court observed that a promotional or higher post cannot carry a pay structure lower than that of its feeder cadre. It also rejected the attempt to equate Health Educators and Health Supervisors, noting differences in their educational qualifications, recruitment processes and duties.
The court further observed that Health Educators perform block-level supervisory and administrative functions and therefore could not be treated as equivalent to the feeder category for the purpose of determining their pay structure.
The bench also took note of the fact that revised pay benefits had been extended to 40 other categories from October 1, 2012, while the benefit to Health Educators was deferred until 2016.
The court held that executive notifications or pay revision orders cannot override statutory Recruitment and Promotion Rules framed under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution without formally amending those rules.
Accordingly, the court held that the petitioners were entitled to an appropriate and proportionately higher pay structure over and above that of the feeder cadre with effect from October 1, 2012, along with all consequential benefits.