Woman denied job for being 'dikri', not bahu of village

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday set straight yet another 'believe-it-or-not' gaffe made by Gujarat government. In the instant case, a woman who'd fulfilled all 12 eligibility criteria for the post of an anganwadi worker in a Dang village, was denied the job because she was born in the village, and could not be considered as a daughter-in-law (bahu) belonging to the village.
The child welfare planning officer had put in writing that Jhigaben Edait, 36, was disqualified on the astounding ground “Gaam na dikri hoi, gaam ni vahu na hovathi" (She's a daughter of the village, not a daughter-in-law of the village).
After going through the matter, Justice NV Anjaria not only quashed the decision of the child welfare planning officer, but also ordered that Edait be appointed in the post in Morjira village, Dang, which she had sought in 2013. The post had remained vacant since then for want of eligible candidates.
According to case details, an advertisement for recruitment of anganwadi workers was published under the Integrated Child Development Scheme in 2013. Edait, who was already working as a helper in the village's anganwadi, applied for the regular post. She also attached with her job application an experience certificate from her supervisor attesting she had worked as a helper for three years in the same anganwadi.
Edait and his husband Laxman Bagul, a Maharashtrian, were settled in Morjira village, Edait's birthplace. But the authorities denied her the job, forcing Edait to go to court. In the high court Edait challenged the government's decision as discri minatory and in violation of Article 15 of the Constitution through her advocate Shakeel Qureshi, who contended that government authorities cannot discriminate against a job applicant on basis of her family roots.
The high court, too, was surprised at seeing the letter of the appointing authority, which highlighted the ground for disqualification, said Qureshi.