SRI. GOPAL RAO EKBOTE COMMITTEE REPORT.

Sir,

    The govt. of Andhra Pradesh in order  G.O.Ms.No.198 Education dated 25/2/1976, appointed Sri.Gopal Rao Ekbote,(Retd.,Chief Justice of A.P.). the A.P.PL.Act Review Committee for below recommended for the Employees of the Dept.of Public libraries.

(i) EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE LIBRARIES

                The human element is perhaps the most important factor of ail, in determining the success or otherwise of public library.  Low salaries, awkward working hours, work even on holidays and some dull routine have always inhabited against attracting capable persons to the library employment. What will attract competent hands are higher salaries, better service conditions and good prospects of advancement.  A happy, educated and willing staff is always an asset to the libraries.  Experience, however, has created a feeling among the State Library staff that they should have security of job and regular payment of salaries.

            There has been a good deal of representation to the Committee on the questions of the librarians and other employees working under the library authorities, that they should be declared as Government employees.  While the employees, naturally and understandably represented with one voice that they should be made government employees and should be given all the benefit of the government servants, it was felt by some of the witnesses that if they are made government servant for all purposes, then they will look more to the government than to the library authority.  This dual loyalty is likely to affect the discipline and behavior of the employees of the authority.  The control of the library authorities over them in the circumstances cannot remain, as it ought to be, for running the library services efficiently.

            We compared all the library enactments of India.  Though they vary in language and substance, they all agree that the employees of the department of libraries should be government servants and that their salaries should be paid out of the consolidated fund.

            The Maharashtra Act, in Section 10, enacts for the State Library Service.  It enjoins that the State Government shall establish a Maharashtra State Library Services and appoint persons thereto.  In Clause 2 of the said Section, it further states that the Maharashtra State Library service shell consists of such classes and categories of the posts as the State Government may from time to time determine.

            All members of the said service shall be Government Servants and their recruitment and conditions of service shall be regulated by rules made by the Government.  Clause 3 of the Section further states that the salaries, allowances, etc., of Maharashtra Library Service shell be paid from the Consolidate Fund of the State.

            This provision is unambiguous and clear.  It admits of no doubt that all persons appointed of different classes of library service could be government  servants  for all intents

and purposes.   The only conditions is that Government must declare what classes and categories of posts would be such as to make all appointees thereto government ser

            The Karnataka Act makes the position more emphatic and clear.  Section 15, Clause 1 declares that all post in the department of public libraries, the State Central Library and every local library authority shall be filled by appointment of persons belonging to the Mysore state Library Service. The second clause says that all the members of the State service shall be government servants, and their recruitment and conditions of services shall be regulated by such rules as may be prescribed.  Clause 3 then lays down that the salary, allowances, gratuity, pension and other benefits of the members of the Mysore Library Service shall be shall met from the Consolidated Fund of the State.

            We then turn to Section 19-A of our Act.  It say “Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Government may, by notification, constitute a library service for the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas in the state and appoint to that service such category of librarians as may be prescribed”.

            The first question to be considered is as to whether Section 19-A, which  authorizes the government to constitute a library service for the librarians working under the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas, postulates the constitution of declared cadre of library service as government servants.  Section 19-A empowers the Government firstly to constitute a library service by issue of a notification.  Such a service shall be for Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas.  Secondly the Section empowers the Government to appoint to the library service so constituted such categories of librarians as may be prescribed.  It follows that the Government has firstly to constitute a library service for Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas and secondly it has to prescribe by rules the categories of   librarians and thirdly to appoint such categories of librarians to that service.

            The Government accordingly by issue of G.O.No.674, dated 21-3-1967 under notification (1) constituted a library service for the Zilla Grandhalaya  samsthas in the State with effect from 1-4-1950.  Thise has obviously been done under powers vested in the Government under Section 19-A of  the  Act.

            By notification (2) in the same G.O., the Government made some rules under section 25 (2) (f).  The first rule states that:

            The service shall consist of following categories, namely:

(i)                 District Central Librarians and City Central Librarians.

(ii)               Librarian, Grade I.

(iii)             Librarian, Grade II.

(iv)             Librarian, Grade III.

What  is the meaning of the “State Library Service”, words used in Section 19-A.  Plainly read it can only mean a cader of service in the Government in the department of libraries.  It is true that like Maharashtra and Karnataka Section 19-A does not expressly say that this service shall be the Government Service.  It must be kept in view that Zilla Grandhalaya samsthas in all other cases are entitled to appoint their employees.  The  librarians alone and that too such categories of them as the Government may prescribe could be the members of such  library service and not other members of the staff.

The State Central and State Regional Libraries no doubt have librarians who for all purposes are government servants.  These libraries are administered with the help of the funds provided by the Government.  These librarians naturally do not fall within the ambit of Section 19-A because they are already Government servants.  Thus we have two categories of librarians working under the Act, one set of librarians who are working in the State Central Library and in all the five State Regional Libraries.  The other set of librarians in the one which works in the Zilla Grandhalaya samsthas.  The said notification accept all the librarians working in the Zilla Grandhalaya samsthas, whatever may be their grades, as persons belonging to  Andhra Pradesh State Library Service.

We do not find either from Section 19-A or any other provision of the Act that the intention of the legislature was to create two categories of librarians.  One the Government  and other  non-Government.  In fact it is plain to us that all the librarians working in whatevr library are Government servants because of the language of Section 19-A and the intention perceptibly lying behind it.  The irresistible conclusion therefore is that all the librarians working in the Department of libraries are government servants.

This is borne out by two documents presented to us.   One is the Director’s note R.C.No.558 B1/71, dated 18-1-1972.   He states in that note:  “In this connection I submit that the Government  have provisionally decided to declare all the employees of Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas as Government servants”.

This note widens the scope of Section 19-A and brings within its fold of Government service all the employees including the librarians.

In writ Appeal No.138 of 1969, a bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court observed:

“Having been appointed to the post of the District Central Library in the Andhra Pradesh Library Service, a service constituted by the Government under Section 19-A of the Act, it cannot be doubted that the appellant became a Government servant”.

We know that this judgment assumes that because the Government  has  constituted the library service, any person appointed to such a service would be a Government servant.  Even if it is assumed that there is a separate library service for librarians of Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas created by the Government and appointments are made to such service by the Government, what would be the nature of such service.  As pointed out above the intention of the Legislature is clear that this service will be a cadre in the Government service.  In the connection it is well to remember that each Zilla Grandhalaya samsthas is a corporate body having distinct existence.  If there is a common cadre of librarians in all the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas then, such common cadre must be either the Government  cadre or a separate library service cadre, the salary and allowances of which are paid from some common  library service fund.  There is no such common library fund under Act.

We have noticed that the Government in the G.O. 915 dated 29-7-1975 emphatically rejected the request of the employees to provincialiese  the service of the employees working under the zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas.  The G.O. says “the services of the employees of the zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas cannot be provincialised”.  The Self-same G.O., however, grants the employees of the zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas the benefits which the employees of the local Government are getting.  The anomaly this G.O., creates is quite apparent. Section 19A as in seen applies only to declared categories of librarians and not to other employees of the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas.  The government cannot therefore make non-librarian employees as belonging to library service referred to in Section 19A.  No other provision empowers the government to confer any benefits on the employees of the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas.  That clearly points out to one anomaly, that is to say, that while there can be little doubt about the librarians being the Government servants, the staff of the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas can in no case under section 19-A a common cadre either of the Government service or a common from library service for which there is no provision.  The Government, therefore, will have to clarify the position in clear terms.  The decision of the Government does not seem to have satisfied either the librarians or other employees.  This decision instead of solving the difficulties which arise as mentioned above created more problems.  In order to avoid confusion which seems to prevail and make the position of employees secure, we think that Section 19A should be substituted by a new section drafted on the lines of section 15 of the Mysore Public Library Act of 1965.  Such a section should make four points clear.

(1).  All post in the department of public libraries, whether they  exist in State Central Library, State Regional Libraries or any Library working under the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas shall be filled by appointment of persons belonging to State Library service.

(2)   All  members of such service shall be Government servants.

(3)   their recruitment and conditions of service shall, subject to Article to 309             of the constitution, be regulated by rules and

(4)    The salary, allowance, gratuity, pensions and other benefits of the members  o the State Library Service shall be met from the Consoildated Fund of the State.

       The other side of the question must, however , be met.  In order to have the    necessary hold over librarians and the other employees of all the libraries working under the department, the librarians and the Chairmen of the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsths  should be empowered to write and counter-sign the confidential reports of all the employees including the librarians.  These control, we think should be enough for the purpose of maintaining discipline and efficiency in the working of the library service.

            It was however felt by two learned members, that except the Secretary and Grade I Librarians, no other employee of the library should be a Government Servant, as it will be on par with the local Government service,

            We therefore recommend that:

(1). Section 19A be repealed and instead, provisions on the lines of Section 15 of the Mysore Public Libraries Act be introduced.