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Top court directs Centre to regularise daily wage workers at Isro in 4 weeks
The Supreme Court ordered the Centre to regularise ISRO's daily wage workers within four weeks, highlighting their vital contributions to India's space missions.
The Supreme Court directed the Centre to regularise daily wage workers employed with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) within four weeks, observing that they too have an indispensable role in India’s space mission success that cannot be disregarded or discriminated against by the state, being a model employer.
The judgment passed on Wednesday rebuked the Centre for dragging these workers, appointed between 1991 and 1997, through litigation spanning various courts and tribunals, even when the top court gave a clear instruction in 2011 to make them permanent.
A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, “In celebrating the glory of our scientific fraternity, we must not overlook the invisible yet indispensable contributions of every individual who formed part of that larger enterprise….To disregard or discriminate against such individuals in matters of service recognition would be to undermine the collective ethos that propelled India to the Moon and beyond.”
The Centre represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) SD Sanjay opposed the workers’ plea on the ground that they performed sporadic and intermittent work, such as loading, unloading, and shifting of materials, on a need basis, and were never appointed against any sanctioned posts for regular or permanent work.
“The success of a rocket or a satellite mission is not the sole outcome of high-level design and propulsion engineering. It is equally the result of a seamless chain of support, from the transportation of materials to the maintenance of facilities and the myriad ancillary tasks that ensure operational efficiency,” the bench said.
The petitioners were represented through advocates N Subramaniyan and Pranav Sachdeva.
Justice Nath, writing the judgment for the bench, said, “The last man standing in this chain, often belonging to Group-C or Group-D services, performs duties that may appear sporadic or peripheral in isolation. However, without their dedicated support, the very materials and logistics essential for scientific advancement would falter in reaching the laboratories and assembly halls of our scientists.”
The court reminded the Centre of the early beginning of ISRO when the first sounding rocket launched from Thumba in 1963 was transported to the launch site on a bicycle and India’s first experimental communication satellite APPLE tested in 1981 was placed on a bullock cart.
These workers, the court noted, were employed at ISRO’s premier research and development unit – Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri (Tamil Nadu) – which is declared a prohibited area under the Official Secrets Act.
The judgment held, “The State, as a model employer, cannot afford to treat a segment of its workforce, those who have contributed, however indirectly, to national endeavours of paramount importance, with arbitrariness or indifference. Denying them even the basic courtesy of a recognised service status, while reaping the benefits of their labour, strikes at the root of fairness and dignity in public employment.”
The struggle by these workers, represented in the top court by advocate Pranav Sachdeva among others, began in 2009 when they first approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for regularisation. This resulted in a judgment passed on March 9, 2010 that favored them. The CAT directed the Centre to sanction posts and make these workers permanent. This order was upheld by the Supreme Court on July 29, 2011.
Following this, the Centre brought the Gang Labourers Scheme which continued the agony of the workers by terming them “temporary” workers.
The bench said, “We must express our serious disapproval of the manner in which the respondents (Centre and ISRO) have dealt with the present case. The obligation of the State to act as a model employer is not a mere exhortation but flows directly from the guarantee of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution. The present case exemplifies how a litigant, often placed at the margins of the system, is compelled to traverse a prolonged and arduous legal journey merely to secure what is justly due.”
The court set aside the scheme and held, “The respondents are consequently directed to regularise the services of the appellants and grant them permanent status with effect from September 9, 2010 (being the outer limit fixed by the Tribunal for framing the scheme), within a period of four weeks from the date of this order.”
Although only seven workers had approached the top court, the court extended the benefit of its decision to all similarly situated workers engaged under the 2012 scheme.
