Hyderabad: The AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 approved by the Union Cabinet on December 5 has created a fresh tussle between state government employees from Telangana and Seemandhra.
The Bill states that, “As far as local, district, zonal and multi-zonal cadres are concerned, the employees will continue to serve, on or after the appointed day (date of enactment of Bill), on asis-where-is basis.”
The provision has now become a bone of contention between the two factions. It means that the existing employees hailing from Seemandhra region would continue to work in T-region post bifurcation, which is being strongly opposed by Telangana employees.
T-employees’ associations argue that this will result in Seemandhra employees occupying major posts in all government offices in Telangana region, especially in state-level offices like the Secretariat, directorates and heads of departments etc., depriving Telangana youth from securing government jobs even after bifurcation.
They point out that the prime reason for Telangana movement gaining momentum in last one decade was that the Telangana youth were losing out on government jobs to Seemandhra people and if the same situation continues even after T-state is formed, it would lead to more complications in future.
Currently, the government posts are being filled on zonal-basis on account of Presidential Order. Under the zonal system, 80 per cent of the posts are allotted to locals and the balance 20 per cent posts are offered under ‘unreserved quota,’ which means both local and non-locals can secure jobs based on merit.
However, T-employees say that the number of Telangana people who find jobs in the ‘unreserved quota’ in Seemandhra region is negligible as compared to the thousands of Seemandhra employees securing jobs in Zone V and Zone VI.
“Four years of academic studies in any region fetches ‘local’ status for anyone. Thus thousands of Seemandhra candidates have secured local status in Telangana by migrating to Hyderabad and nearby districts for studies.
So they secure jobs both in the local and unreserved quota. In districts like Adilabad, Nizamabad etc. Seemandhra employees occupy 60 per cent jobs in several government offices,” said Sridhar Deshpande, vice-president, Telangana Employees’ Association.
T-employees say that if the Draft Bill is enacted in the present format, it would take several years for Telangana youth to secure jobs even in the new state as they will have to wait till the existing Seemandhra employees retire and till the new government notifies those vacancies and conducts fresh recruitment exams.
Next: No point in T, if no jobs exist
No point in T, if no jobs exist
Hyderabad: T-employees claim that nearly 1.5 lakh employees from Seemandhra are currently working in the Telangana region against the norms, and that there is no point in giving Telangana statehood if people are allowed to violate the norms even after the bifurcation.
The Telangana employees said the provisions in the Draft Bill are unacceptable. C. Vittal, president of Telangana Employees’ Association said, “What is the point in granting statehood to Telangana if nearly 1.5 lakh Seemandhra employees are allowed to continue here even after bifurcation?
Nativity of employees should be the criterion for placement of employees after bifurcation. Why should options be given? If they are given, Seemandhra employees will only opt for postings in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.”
Seemandhra employees, however, claim that they had secured postings in the T-region based on merit. “The T-employees’ argument does not stand. All appointments to government departments are based on merit secured in recruitment examinations, interviews etc.
How can we find fault with the Seemandhra employees, if they, based on their merit, secured more state-level posts in the city? Also, all these employees cannot be termed as ‘non-locals’. They were accorded local status by the government based on norms such as four years of study etc.,” said P. Ashok Babu, APNGOs president.
