Tripura government’s social welfare department to move supreme court against high court order on payment of gratuity to retired ‘Anganwadi’ workers

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, Updated: June 24, 2024, 11:14:06 AM   

The social welfare department of the state government has decided on principle to move the supreme court against the high court order on payment of gratuity to the retired ‘Anganwadi’ workers. It was on May 9 that the single bench of the high court of Tripura headed by Justice Sabyasachi Datta Purkayastha had given an order mandating payment of gratuity to the retired ‘Anganwadi’ workers but this order has not been acted upon as yet, nor has the state government moved the division bench of the high court against the single bench order. But the minister for social welfare Tinku Roy said that the state government has decided in principle to appeal the supreme court against the high court order.

Senior advocate Purushottam Roybarman who had filed and won the case on behalf of the ‘Anganwadi’ workers said that in accordance with the ‘Payment of Gratuity’ act-1972 the retired ‘Anganwadi’ workers are entitled to gratuity but the Tripura government has never paid gratuity to such workers in spite of the fact that they perform very important duties at the grassroot level for the welfare and primary education of students. He said that he had filed a writ petition in the high last year on behalf of the 22 retired ‘Anganwadi’ workers and later more than  a hundred ‘Anganwadi’ workers had become party to the  case. This case had been decided on May 9 and the single bench judge Sabyasachi Datta Purkayastha had passed an order mandating payment of gratuity to the poor and retired ‘Anganwadi’ workers. “Now if the state government intends to challenge this order in a division bench or in the supreme court, they can very well do so but there is very possibility of the high court order being overturned in higher court” said Roybarman.    (Tripurainfo)