Anganwadi assistants may claim promotion preference only against vacancies at their own centre.

The petitioner worked as an Anganwadi Assistant at Madarkal Anganwadi Centre No. 2 and sought promotion as an Anganwadi Worker, relying on the Government Order dated 3 December 2022.

The respondents issued a notification dated 8 December 2025 to fill an Anganwadi Worker post at Madarkal Centre No. 3. The petitioner challenged the notification and sought consideration of her representations for promotion.

The respondents stated that no Anganwadi Worker vacancy existed at Centre No. 2 and that the Centre No. 3 post was reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

The Court applied the Government Order dated 3 December 2022, which provides a preference for an Anganwadi Assistant seeking promotion to Anganwadi Worker when a vacancy arises in the centre where that Assistant works.

The judgment cites no statute or judicial precedent.

The petitioner worked at Madarkal Centre No. 2, but the challenged notification concerned Centre No. 3. The Court read the Government Order as providing a preference only where a vacancy arises in the Assistant’s own centre; because no Anganwadi Worker vacancy existed at Centre No. 2, the petitioner could not claim promotion to a post at another centre.

The Centre No. 3 post was also reserved for a Scheduled Tribe candidate, further undermining the petitioner’s challenge.

It dismissed the writ petition and rejected I.A. No. 2/2026 seeking impleadment of a proposed respondent.