50% of Temporary Status service is reckonable for MACP benefits upon regularization in Railway employment.

The applicant was appointed as a Casual Labourer on August 21, 1981, and granted Temporary Status (TS) on January 1, 1984

He was subsequently regularized in service on February 28, 1997

The respondents granted him the 1st Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) w.e.f. September 1, 2008, and the 2nd MACP w.e.f. June 6, 2010

The applicant filed this Original Application (OA) under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985, contending that his full service from the date of attaining TS (1984) should be counted for financial upgradation, which would entitle him to the 1st Assured Career Progression (ACP) in 1999

1. Whether the applicant is entitled to have 100% of his service period between the grant of Temporary Status and regular appointment counted for the purpose of granting financial upgradations under the ACP/MACP schemes?

2. Whether there was any illegality in the respondents' decision to grant the 1st MACP from 2008 and 20th year 2nd MACP from 2010 based on a calculation of 50% of TS service?

RBE No. 215/2009 dated December 4, 2009, issued by the Ministry of Railways

This rule stipulates that 50% of the service rendered under Temporary Status (TS) as a casual labourer, followed by absorption in regular employment, shall be taken into account toward the minimum qualifying service of 10, 20, and 30 years required for the grant of benefits under the MACP Scheme, drawing an analogy from the calculation of qualifying service for pension

In applying RBE No. 215/2009, the Tribunal held that the respondents correctly calculated 50% of the service period spent between the conferment of TS and regularization

While the applicant completed 10 years of service (including the 50% TS credit) by the year 2000, the MACP scheme was only implemented w.e.f. September 1, 2008; thus, he could not claim the benefit prior to that date

Furthermore, the Tribunal observed that the benefits of the earlier ACP scheme were not available for periods spent in Temporary Status before regularization

By combining 50% of the TS service with 100% of the regular service, the applicant's entitlement to the 1st MACP in 2008 and the 2nd MACP in 2010 was found to be in strict accordance with existing Railway Board guidelines

The 1st MACP granted w.e.f. September 1, 2008, and the 2nd MACP granted w.e.f. June 6, 2010, were upheld as legal and proper. Consequently, the Original Application was dismissed for lack of merit, with no order as to costs.