Hyderabad: The creation of 21 new districts on Dasara has rendered defunct the zonal system for public employment as the Presidential Order of 1975 has not been modified to reflect the changes.
The Presidential Order names only the 10 older districts. Without getting it amended, the government created 21 districts and renamed Warangal. Besides, some mandals and villages have been switched between districts.
If the Presidential Order is not amended to include the new districts, it could affect the recruitment drive of the Telangana State Public Service Commission.
“The state government must immediately approach the Centre to amend the Presidential Order either for continuing the present zonal system or to scrap it,” said TNGOs honorary president G. Devi Prasad. After bifurcation, the Centre had amended the provisions governing local status and secured the President’s assent on the recommendation of the AP government.
This enabled the AP government employees and general public to move to Andhra Pradesh state. “A similar exercise is required for the new districts, otherwise, all recruitments will face a legal problem,” Mr Devi Prasad said.
Sources in the employees organisations said scrapping of the zonal system would have to be done after a careful study. After scrapping of Zones 5 and 6 following bifurcation, only two cadres will be left with the state and district cadre.
The government has to notify cadre posts separately for the district and the state.
Assuming recruitments will be held only for 200 gazetted mandal revenue officers and tahasildars, each district will get less than 10 officials.
As far as recruitment procedure is concerned, filling of posts by rostrum, duly giving priority to all reserved categories, will pose a problem.
Even determining the local status will be problematic. For example, a local of Mahbubnagar district cannot now claim a post in Gadwal district; a Gadwal local, earlier part of the larger Mahbubnagar district, cannot claim a post in Wanaparthy or Nagarkurnool and vice versa.
“There is an urgent need for the government to give clarity on this. Employees were told they would continues to get the same status in new districts. But with new recruitments, postings and promotions, there should be clarity in tune with the Presidential Order,” explained TNGOs president Karem Ravinder Reddy.
