The Supreme Court has directed Bihar and Jharkhand to pay a one-time Rs 1 lakh to each daily-wage worker of five defunct corporations of erstwhile Bihar, with 12% simple interest on delayed provident fund dues and 6% on delayed salary and other dues, while closing the exercise to trace remaining employees with a 12-month window for claims.
The Patna High Court has dismissed a plea by members of Bihar’s Watershed Development Teams claiming a 10% annual increment, holding that the 2020 governing-body resolution granting the increment applied only to employees of the Bihar Watershed Development Society, not to WDT members, who are a separate category under the 2008 Watershed Guidelines. The Court held the withdrawal of the wrongly-extended benefit lawful, but directed that amounts already paid need not be refunded.
