JUDGMENT

H.L. Dattu, J.

1) Leave granted.

2) The appellant, being aggrieved by the judgment and order in WA No. 535/2001 and other connected appeals and also the dismissal of the Review Petition No. 124/2006 by the Division Bench of High Court of Gauhati, is before us in these appeals.

3) The factual matrix in brief is as under :

The Union of India (Respondents herein) had introduced "Family Welfare Scheme" under its Family Planning Programme with effect from 1st day of September, 1966. Under the said scheme, there was a provision for the appointment of `Voluntary Female Attendants' on a monthly honorarium of `50/- per month from the inception of the scheme, which was subsequently increased to `100/- per month with effect from February, 2001. According to the Union of India, the work of these attendants is to motivate people in their locality to have a small family. This assertion of the Union of India is disputed by the private respondents. They assert that though they were appointed as `Volunteers', they were made to assist the Auxiliary nurses-cum-midwives in the Health sub-centers at the time of field visit and for miscellaneous works like cleaning, etc. in the sub-centers.

4) So