Petitioners seek directions to the second respondent to appoint them as Medical Officer (Ayurveda) in the dispensaries of National Rural Health Mission (hereinafter referred to as 'the Mission'), in Kollam District.
2. As per Ext.P1 notification, applications were invited by the second respondent, the State Director of the Mission, from eligible candidates for appointment as Medical Officer (Ayurveda) in the dispensaries of the Mission in the State. The Mission is a Scheme of the Central Government under which the Central Government is extending support to the State Governments in the health care services to the people. As per the notification, the candidates were required to opt one District in the State for appointment. The petitioners are persons applied for selection pursuant to a notification for appointment as Medical Officer (Ayurveda). All of them have opted for appointment in Kollam District. After the selection, petitioners were ranked 1, 8 and 12 respectively in Ext.P2 select list. According to them, though Ext.P2 select list was published as early as on 13.5.2013, till date, appointments are not made from the list and it is in the said circumstances, the writ petition seeking the aforesaid relief is filed.
3. A statement has been filed on behalf of the second respondent. The stand of the second respondent is that prior to the selection referred to in the writ petition, a few similar selections were conducted by the Mission for appointment of candidates as Medical Officer (Ayurveda) and while the earlier select lists were in force, at the instance of the State Government, some of the candidates included in the said select lists were appointed without their concurrence, in the Hospitals run by the State Government, making use of the financial assistance extended by the Union Government through its AYUSH Department. According to the second respondent, in course of time, when the Central Government withheld the financial assistance extended to the State Governments through its AYUSH Department, the candidates who were appointed from the select list prepared by the Mission could not be paid their salary by the State Government. In the said circumstances, according to the second respondent, the governing body of the Mission has decided to accommodate those Medical Officers in the existing vacancies and it is on account of the said reason that appointments are not being made from Ext.P2 list. Annexure II is the minutes of the governing body of National Rural Health Mission, Kerala.
4. In so far as no appointments were made by the Mission in the vacancies contemplated while publishing Ext.P1 notification, merely for the reason that the names of the petitioners appear in the select list prepared pursuant to the said notification, they do not have any enforceable right to get appointment. At the same time, they are entitled to be considered for appointment as and when vacancies arise in the dispensaries run by the Mission in the State, after exhausting the redeployment undertaken by the Mission so long as Ext.P2 select list is in force.
5. The learned Standing Counsel for the second respondent submits that the list will be in force for a reasonable period and until a fresh selection is made and a fresh list is published, the candidates in Ext.P2 select list including the petitioners will be considered for appointment, subject to the policy decisions taken by the Central Government and the Mission in public interest. In the light of the said submission made by the learned Standing Counsel for the Mission, the writ petition is disposed of directing the second respondent to appoint the petitioners in the vacancies arising in Kollam District, after exhausting the redeployment undertaken at present, subject to the policy decisions taken by the Central Government and the Mission in public interest.
Sd/-
P.B.SURESH KUMAR, JUDGE.
tgs (true copy)