TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Smiles had lit the faces of these 60 candidates on May 7 last when the High Court decided in favour of a group of beleaguered candidates for appointment as labourers in the Public Works Department.
They saw a ray of hope in the High Court order granting them the relief, even though the Court had stayed its own order by six weeks after the government Advocate sought a stay ostensibly to prefer an appeal in a higher court.
More than three months now, these candidates find themselves in the dock again, claiming that though the High Court had stayed the order for only 45 days, nothing has been heard on the matter since then. They claimed that the government has neither challenged the High Court ruling in a higher court nor have given them the appointment letters as directed by the court.
When Herald contacted Principal Chief Engineer J S Rego, he said the file pertaining to the 60 candidates is pending as the process of seeking opinion is underway. When his attention was drawn to the fact that the 45 day stay granted by the High Court has lapsed a month and half ago, Rego only said he would look into the file only on Monday. “As far as my knowledge goes, the file is pending for seeking opinion from the government advocates. I will come to know of the exact position only on Monday after going through the file”, he said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the candidates said they had been undergoing the ordeal since the last two years for no fault of theirs. ‘We have been running from pillar to post for the last two years. This is a clear case of justice delayed is justice denied. It’s now two-years-and-half that we are without a job despite undergoing the laid down procedure”, he said.
Information revealed that the PWD had invited applications for the appointment of post of Group D labourers way back on February 11, 2011. While all the 60 candidates had received their appointment letters, around 21 candidates had received the joining letter and had worked in the respective divisions for 21 days. These candidates claimed that they were not permitted to perform their duties on ground that the Model code of conduct had come into force in the run up to the 2012 Assembly polls.
