Delhi HC directs NIELIT to release salaries of contractual NrDMC workers by Oct 20

New Delhi [India], October 15 (ANI): The Delhi High Court has directed the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) to ensure that all the statutory dues and salaries of the Data Entry operators engaged on a contractual basis in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NrDMC), should be released in time without delay.

Justice Prathibha M Singh passed the direction while hearing the petition filed by contractual Data Entry Operators working with NrDMC, and asked the contractor(NIELIT) to release the salaries on or before October 20, and warned of "stringent action" if it failed to do so.

The court noted that it seems that the salaries of the petitioners, and their statutory dues, have not been deposited by NIELIT in a regular manner.

"NIELIT is hereby directed to ensure that all the statutory dues and salaries of the Petitioners are released in time, and there is no delay in respect of the same. NIELIT is directed to release all the salaries and other dues, in favour of the Petitioners, on or before 20th October 2021, failing which the Petitioners are permitted to approach this Court by way of an application, and stringent action would be liable to be taken against the contractor, " the court said.

"Insofar as the grievance of the Petitioners is concerned, since the contract of NIELIT has been extended till 31st December 2021, it is made clear that the Petitioners shall continue to work with the NrDMC (North Delhi Municipal Corporation) as they were, in the past, and they shall not be terminated or restrained from working with the NrDMC, except in accordance with the law," the court further said.

The court said that if the NrDMC chooses to avail of the GeM portal (Government e-marketplace) or engage any other contractor as per the prescribed procedure at a later stage, they are permitted to do so, so long as the new contractor does not change the service conditions of the petitioners, till the pendency of the disputes before the Conciliation Officer and the Labour Court.

The present order would be subject to the outcome of the proceedings before the Labour Court, the HC said clarifying that this high court has not examined the merits of the matter as to whether the petitioners are entitled to regularization or any other issues raised by petitioners as the same shall be decided by the Labour Court in accordance with the law.

With this observation, the court disposed of the petition.

The case of the petitioners in these petitions is that they were employed and have rendered their services for varying periods of time, between 3 to 15 years. The grievance that they raise in these petitions is that they have been served with an email by NIELIT on September 30, stating that the contract between the NIELlT and the NrDMC is going to expire i.e., on September 30, and therefore, the workers should not report to the NrDMC w.e.f. October 1.

Advocate Mini Pushkarna, Standing Counsel, appearing for the NrDMC submitted that the Standing Committee of the NrDMC has passed a Resolution, on September 15, by which the contract of NIELIT has been extended till December 31. She submitted there is no apprehension, as expressed in these writ petitions, that the DEOs will be removed.

During the hearing advocate Meghna De, counsel representing petitioners submitted that since June, the salaries of the petitioners have not been paid. (ANI)