District Magistrate must pass reasoned order on claims for pending remuneration of Nal-Jal Scheme caretakers.

The ten petitioners are individuals working as Nal-Jal Anurakshak (pump operators/maintainers) under the "Nal-Jal" scheme in various Panchayats within the Taraiya Block of Saran District

Seeking payment of long-standing overdue remuneration and consequential benefits, the petitioners relied on a government directive (Annexure-P/6), specifically Letter No. 26 dated 14.08.2024, issued by the Principal Secretary of the Public Health & Engineering Department (PHED) to District Magistrates

Despite submitting multiple representations to the Block Development Officer (B.D.O.), their grievances remained unaddressed, prompting this writ petition

1. Whether the petitioners are entitled to the release of their pending remuneration based on the Departmental Letter No. 26 dated 14.08.2024

2. Whether the Court should direct the district administration to adjudicate upon the petitioners' pending claims within a stipulated timeframe

The court's directions are based on the administrative instructions issued by the Department of Public Health & Engineering, Government of Bihar, via Letter No. 26 dated 14.08.2024, which governs the execution and remuneration aspects of the Nal-Jal Scheme circulation

The court also applied the principle of administrative exhaustion, requiring a competent authority (the District Magistrate) to pass a "reasoned and speaking order" on service-related financial claims before further judicial intervention

The court observed that the core of the petitioners' claim is rooted in the scanned executive instructions of the PHED (Annexure-P/6) addressed to District Magistrates regarding the management of the Nal-Jal scheme

While the petitioners had approached the B.D.O., the court identified the District Magistrate, Saran at Chapra (Respondent No. 5), as the appropriate authority to evaluate these claims in light of the government’s 2024 directive

Rather than adjudicating the merits of the payment arrears itself, the court determined that the administrative authorities must first verify the petitioners’ service status and payment eligibility as per the specified departmental letter

The District Magistrate (Respondent No. 5) is ordered to pass a "reasoned and speaking order" regarding the release of remuneration within 90 days from the receipt of said representation [p.6]. The holding emphasizes that the grievance must be resolved through a formal administrative review based on the existing departmental guidelines