Work Of Yoga Instructors Cannot Be Treated Similar & Equal To That Of Ayurveda Nurse Or Compounder: Rajasthan HC
The Rajasthan High Court observed that the work of Yoga Instructors cannot be treated similar, equal, and alike to that of Ayurveda Nurse/Compounder.
The Jodhpur Bench observed thus in a batch of civil writ petitions preferred by the persons being aggrieved by the authorities for not issuing the experience certificate in a prescribed format and not granting bonus marks to Yoga Instructors (YI) in the selection process of Ayurveda Compounder/Nurse as per the order of the Department of Medical and Health, despite the fact that they discharged their duties similar to Ayurveda Compounder/Nurse during the period of COVID-19.
A Single Bench of Justice Farjand Ali held, “The office order and the rule clearly states that “similar work” performed by the employee will get the bonus marks. Here in the case at hand, the petitioners were appointed as Yoga Instructors and their work cannot be treated similar, equal, alike to that of Ayurveda Nurse/Compounder and therefore they are not entitled to get bonus marks as per their claim.”
Advocate Yashpal Khileree represented the petitioners while AAG N.S. Rajpurohit represented the respondents.
Brief Facts -
In times of COVID-19 when the whole world was facing a deadly pandemic, there was a need of people who could come forward and contribute for the society. At that time, Government decided under the National AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) Mission to advertise vacancies for the post of Yoga Instructor at 430 Ayurveda Hospitals situated in the Rajasthan State which were selected as AYUSH Health & Wellness Centre and accordingly the respondent director Ayurveda Department issued an advertisement in March 2021 and invited applications from the eligible candidates. As per the advertisement, one female and one male were to be appointed at each Ayurveda Hospital. The petitioners were having qualifications showing Diploma in AYUSH Nursing and Pharmacy (DAN & P) as well as registration with Rajasthan Ayurveda Nursing Council, Jaipur. They were appointed on the post of Yoga Instructor.
During pandemic period, the services of all the employees including the employees of Ayurveda Department were handed over to the Department of Medical and Health, Government of Rajasthan, Jaipur. The State Government decided to provide additional bonus marks in the regular recruitment process of Medical and Health Department to those employees who served at the time of pandemic. Thereafter, the Department of AYUSH, Rajasthan issued an advertisement and invited applications from eligible candidates for appointment on the post of Compounder/Nurse Junior Grade and the minimum qualification for the said post was Three years Diploma or Four Years B.Sc. in Ayurveda Nursing along with internship from a university established by law in India and registered in Rajasthan Ayurveda Nursing Council. The petitioners were aggrieved by the fact that no additional benefits were given to them and therefore, they approached the High Court.
The High Court in view of the above facts, noted, “It is clear from the above office order that bonus marks shall be granted to those candidates having experience on the basis of period of working on similar work to the advertised post under the State Government, Chief Minister BPL, Jeevan Raksha Kosh, National health Mission, Dr. Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan Rajasthan Ayurveda University, Jodhpur or any AYUSH Project in the state of Rajasthan run by the Government. In an unambiguous term, it is stated in the order above that the work of Yoga Instructor is completely a part time and is of voluntary service nature, who are appointed only to conduct Yoga practice for one hour which is not similar to the work of Nurse/compounder.”
The Court said that the petitioners worked during COVID times as Yoga Instructors but the post on which they are applying is for Nurse and Compounder for which they cannot be put at the same level and therefore, cannot be granted the bonus marks more particularly in light of the order issued by Medical & Health Department.
“The petitioners are demanding for bonus marks during the period they served but the order dated 25.04.2023 was not issued by the Ayurveda Department rather it was issued by the Medical and Health Department and therefore does not apply on the petitioners and will only be applicable for the candidates who would appear in the recruitment process under the Medical and Health Department. The nature of job has also been taken into consideration while deciding the matter”, it added.
The Court held that the petitioners are entitled to get the experience certificate of the work they performed during the relevant period but for the experience on the post of Yoga Instructors only. It further clarified that the petitioners shall be able to use the same as and when it is required for that purpose.
“Since, the experience certificate has been issued by the department under the direction of this Court, therefore no further order is to be passed in this regard. If the experience certificate to any of the candidates hasn’t been issued yet despite the order of this Court, then it shall be issued to those candidates immediately. The interim order dated 01.11.2023 is made absolute hereby”, it observed.
The Court also said that the petitioners are not entitled to get the benefit of bonus marks in accordance with the order issued by the Department of Medical and Health as the same is not applicable to the case of the petitioners.
“The nature and kind of the work of Yoga Instructors is different to the work of Ayurveda Nurse/Compounder and therefore the petitioners are not entitled to raise the claim of their work experience as Yoga Instructors akin to the post of Ayurveda Nurse/Compounder”, it concluded.
Accordingly, the High Court disposed of the writ petitions.
Cause Title- Akshay Kumar Vaishnav & Ors. v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024:RJ-JD:36505)
Appearance:
Petitioners: Advocates Yashpal Khileree, Vinita, K.L. Chouhan
Respondents: AAG N.S. Rajpurohit, Advocates Sher Singh Rajpurohit, Anita Rajpurohit, Suneil Purohit, and Jasraj Singh.
