Launched in 2004, the railways employment initiative for children has been ceased to exist. Under the initiative, children were provided with huge employments in the lower tier in return for voluntary retirement. The government decided to approach the Supreme Court to assess the constitutional validity of the scheme.
In response to the verdict of Punjab and Haryana High Court claiming that this scheme is violation of “principle of equal opportunity”, as far as government jobs are concerned. It said, “Such a policy was violative of Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India..,” the court found. It asked the Railways to “revisit the offending policy keeping in view the principle of equal opportunity in public employment….”
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However, the Kerala High Court and Patna High Court credited the scheme with merit in the scheme. A senior railway officer said, “Since there are different judgments on the same issue across India, we want to approach the Supreme Court and get a verdict once and for all.”
The scheme revolves around the idea of encouraging the ageing employees to pass on their jobs to children and the youth. It encompassed jobs like that of drivers, gangmen, etc. Approximately 20,000 jobs were given to children of railwaymen under the scheme LARSGESS.
“Agreed that it can’t be continued in North India and West India because the high courts in Ahmedabad in the past and Chandigarh have given negative orders. But that does not stop this scheme in the rest of the country outside the jurisdiction of these courts,” Shiv Gogal Mishra, head of All Indian Railwaymen’s Federation said to media.
To become a beneficiary of this scheme, the employee or the child should be aged around 50-57 years and should have served 33 years in service. However, it is important to note that the rules are variable to different job classes.
