Gram sewak: High Court stops government from declaring result

JAIPUR: Rajasthan High Court has restrained the government from declaring the result of the

gram panchayat sewak

selected on the basis of interview and asked to keep it in a sealed envelope till the matter is decided.

The single bench of

Ajay Rastogi

order followed a petition by

Rakesh Chaudhary

and others. The petitioner alleged that the government had neither followed the reservation policy nor any upper age limit for the candidates which it said is a violation of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act 1996.

The government argued that the appointment on contract basis for a year and there is no need to follow the rules.

The counsel for the petitioner

Vigyan Shah

said the petitioner challenged the advertisement issued on Feb 1 this year for the selection of gram panchayat sewaks (GPS) for appointment on contract basis for a period of one year by interview. The petitioner argued that the posts have been included under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Rules 1996 but the government is not following the due procedure of direct recruitment regarding age and reservation.

Further there are no criteria for selection on the basis of interview prescribed. The government was planning to appoint two to four panchayat sewaks in each of the 9, 894 gram panchayats in the state.