High Court Strikes Down Singareni’s ‘Heir Jobs’ System 

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday struck down the heir job system being adopted by Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) to offer jobs to the heirs of its employees.

The system which was withdrawn in 1998 by the then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was revived in November last years on the instructions of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to fecilitate jobs to the heirs of SCCL employees. The Board of Directors under the chairmanship of SCCL Managing Director N. Sridhar took the decision reviving the heir job system. Employees who are aged between 48 and 59 years by October 11, 2016, were eligible to apply for jobs to their kin - the employee’s son, son-in-law or brother who is between 18 and 35 years of age.

However, the Singareni's decision was challenged through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by a citizen saying it would curtail the Right to Life as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. After hearing arguments from both the party aggrieved and the government, the court struck down the decision.

The TRS government has revived the system as part of its election promise. The government has revived the 1981 Act after a thorough examination and concluding that there won’t be any problem with the revival of the Act.

The Singareni has already accepted thousands of applications from the employees to transfer their jobs to their respective kin. As the son-in-law is allowed to take up the heir job, most employees already settled daughters’ marriages by promising grooms the heir job in the company.

The High Court decision striking down the heir job system in Singareni comes as a big blow not only to the job seekers but also to the TRS government which promised to implement the system.