The notice alleges that while these workers have been disqualified from service despite being experienced, the Academy is engaged in appointing labourers on a first cum first serve basis without stressing on past experience and other criteria.

Advocate B A Aloor who is representing the workers said that the workers had also sent a mass petition complete with all their signatures to the Academy and Antony on September 27, last year. However a lack of response from both the parties forced the workers to adopt the legal recourse and a legal notice had been sent.

“The Academy had replied to the notice saying that the workers had not finished 240 days, the stipulated period of work to be completed before a worker can be made permanent,” said Aloor. Several employees who had been employed on a temporary basis and hence forced to take artificial breaks in service had approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which had given a direction that all such employees be taken back into service and a list of their names be compiled. However according to the workers the list is yet to be compiled even as around 200-300 posts are vacant in the class 4 categories at the Academy.

The workers in their mass petition had claimed that they had been employed in the Academy between 1988 and 1992 and some of them also possess experience certificates. “One of the workers, Vishnu Janardhan Mastud has been granted recognition for seven years of his work at the NDA, by the Defence Minister and the Prime Minister. However, ironically he is one of the workers who does not have a job now,” said Aloor.