Judgment

SAWANT, J.:- This petition is filed as stated in the petition by an Association of about 2000 employees working in 500 Railway Institutes and Clubs in various parts of the country. Their grievance, as in the case of the petitioners in the matters pertaining the Railway Canteens, is that they are not treated as railway employees. It is their case that although the Institutes/ Clubs in which they work are non-statutory, they are on par with the employees in the statutory canteens run in the Railway establishments proper. According to them, the Railway Institutes and Clubs were set up to provide recreational facilities to the railway employees. They are managed by Committees consisting of representatives of all the members of the Institutes/ Clubs elected periodically. The Institute/ Clubs have the following category of employees:- (1) Manager (2) Accountant (3) Clerk (4) Librarian in-charge (5) Librarian (6) Watchman (7) Daftry (8) Watermen (9) Canteen employees (10) Billiards Marker etc. These employees are appointed by the Committee and their salaries are paid out of the contributions received from the members of the respective Institutes/ Clubs and the grants-in-aid given