Agartala, March 7: The Supreme Court of India has directed the Tripura government to regularise eight Daily Rated Workers (DRWs) employed in the state’s Education Department within the next three months. The apex court has also ordered the government to pay 30 percent of their pending dues.
The development was confirmed by senior advocate Purushottam Roy Barman while speaking to reporters on Friday. According to him, the judgment was delivered by the Supreme Court on February 28, bringing an end to a prolonged legal battle fought by the workers.
Explaining the background of the case, Roy Barman said the eight DRWs were posted in schools located in Kanchanpur and Ganganagar. In 2021, they approached the Tripura High Court seeking regularisation of their services. However, the single bench of the High Court rejected their petition, stating that the scheme under which employees engaged in non-regular posts were regularised had already been abolished by the state government.
The workers later challenged the decision before the division bench of the High Court, but the earlier verdict was upheld in 2022. Following this setback, the petitioners moved the Supreme Court seeking justice.
The apex court eventually ruled in their favour, observing that the abolition of the regularisation scheme could not be used as a valid reason to deny regular status to employees who had been performing regular and essential duties for a long time.
Roy Barman said the Supreme Court also noted that the responsibilities carried out by the non-regular staff cannot be treated as seasonal or temporary work. Since their duties fall within the scope of regular departmental work, the court held that they should be regularised and made eligible for pension benefits.
He further stated that the judgment could have far-reaching implications, potentially opening the door for nearly 40,000 non-regular employees in Tripura to seek regularisation of their services.
