The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday said that the Maharashtra government could not deny or delay financial aid to institutions working for children in need of care and protection while at the same time extending assistance to underprivileged women through the Ladki Bahin scheme.
The allocation of resources must satisfy the test of reasonableness under Article 14 of the Constitution, which deals with the right to equality before law, said the High Court.
The Ladki Bahin scheme, launched in June 2024, provides a monthly transfer of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 whose families earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh per year.
A bench of Justices Kishore Sant and Sushil Ghodeswar made the observations while hearing petitions by employees of unaided children’s homes run by non-governmental organisations.
The employees were seeking that their service conditions be made at par with those of state government employees, and that salary grants be released in their favour from the date of their appointment.
They contended that the High Court had, in 2005, while deciding on petitions by employees of a home for destitute children run by Children’s Aid Society, held that they were eligible for the same pay scales as employees working in other institutions run by the society. However, they said that after this judgement, the state government cleared salary grants only for specific employees and did not extend the same benefit to similar children’s homes run by other NGOs.
The Maharashtra government, however, argued that the staff members of these organisations could not be treated as government servants, and so, were not eligible for the pay scale prescribed for them. It further said that during surprise checks, many institutions were found to have no students or staff, and were not functional.
The state government argued that merely because the institutions for vulnerable children had been recognised, it did not mean that they had been granted permission to receive salary grants.
The court said that the state has a “higher constitutional obligation to prioritise the welfare, education, and rehabilitation of children”, failing which the very objective of the Juvenile Justice Act would stand defeated.
The bench told the Maharashtra government to frame a policy within six months for providing salary grants to NGOs that comply with the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The judges said they were disappointed with the way the state government dealt with the matter despite specific directions given by the court. They asked the government to give importance to the matter, keeping in mind the previous judgements of the High Court and the Supreme Court.
“We feel that the state government shall create or select or identify at least one children home run by voluntary organization in each district of the State which is having good capacity and also having well needed infrastructure, well-educated and trained staff,” the court said.
Written by Neerad Pandharipande. Edited by Sneha
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