Ujjal Bhuyan, J.

Heard Mr. B.D. Das, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Mr. H.K. Sarma, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. B. Talukdar, learned Standing Counsel, Secondary Education Department, Government of Assam.

2. By filing this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, petitioner seeks a direction to the respondents to grant her Child Care Leave for a period of 1 (one) year.

3. Case of the petitioner is that following a due selection process, she was selected for appointment as Assistant Teacher (Science) in the Dekargaon High School, Tezpur, on contract basis vide appointment order dated 16.08.2010. As per the said appointment order, petitioner was initially appointed on contract basis for a period upto 31.03.2011, at a fixed monthly pay of Rs. 8,000/-. It is stated that after expiry of the said period, contractual appointment of the petitioner was extended and her fixed salary was also enhanced to Rs. 15,500/- per month from the year 2012 onwards. Petitioner states that she is still serving as Assistant Teacher (Science) in the Dekargaon High School on contract basis at a fixed pay of Rs. 15,500/- per month.

4. Petitioner's husband is a permanent resident of Tezpur, but on account of his service he is now presently posted at Jorhat as Inspector of Legal Metrology Department, Government of Assam. A daughter was born to the petitioner on 18.01.2012, but she has developed seizure disorder problem, for which she is under regular treatment in the International Hospital at Guwahati. The Medical Board of Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) has certified about the illness of petitioner's child.

5. According to the petitioner, her daughter needs her company and attention, particularly, at this point of time, for which she intends to stay with her. In this connection, petitioner submitted leave application on 29.08.2016 before the Inspector of Schools, Sonitpur District Circle, Tezpur and she thereafter took leave from the Dekargaon High School, from 01.10.2016 onwards by submitting an application before the respondent No. 5, i.e., Headmistress of the school. However, till date, Child Care Leave has not been granted to the petitioner.

6. Aggrieved, present writ petition has been filed, seeking the relief as indicated above.

7. Director of Secondary Education, Assam, in his affidavit has stated that petitioner is working as a contractual teacher in the Dekargaon High School, Tezpur. Referring to Clauses-7 and 8 of the contract agreement on the basis of which petitioner is rendering her contractual service, it is stated that a contractual teacher would be entitled to leave on pro-rata basis of 2 days per month. In case of sickness, a maximum of 6 (six) days of leave is provided, though excess of 6 (six) days' leave may be granted as extraordinary leave without any remuneration. Since petitioner is serving as contractual teacher, she is not entitled to Child Care Leave. In any case, as per the Government notification dated 31.07.2015 providing for Child Care Leave to Government employees, such leave cannot be demanded as a matter of right.

8. Mr Das, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner argued that Child Care Leave is a beneficial provision and therefore, the respondents cannot deny such benefit to the petitioner. He also submitted that the High Court of Uttarakhand in the case of Dr Deepa Sharma v. State of Uttarakhand (Writ Petition No. 54 of 2015), decided on 15.12.2016, had issued detailed guidelines to the State to grant Child Care Leave to all women employees, whether appointed on regular basis or on contract basis as per the scheme framed by the Government. He, therefore submits that necessary direction may be issued to grant Child Care Leave to the petitioner, w.e.f. 01.10.2016, so that petitioner is not deprived of her salary for the said period.

9. On the other hand, Mr Talukdar, learned Standing Counsel submits that Child Care Leave is granted to women employees of the Government of As