Hyderabad: The bifurcation of Secretariat employees by the Kamalnathan Committee between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has been put off due to a tussle between employees of the two states over allotment.
When the committee met on Wednesday at the TS Secretariat to begin the allotment process, TS employees raised strong objections about AP employees being given options to work in TS on the pretext that there were vacancies for section officers and assistant section officers here.
Hopes dashed: Telangana staff
TS employees argued that only native employees should be given postings and if AP employees secured postings in the TS Secretariat, existing TS staff would not get promotions at least for 10 years.
This argument was strongly opposed by AP staff, who argued that allotment should be made as per the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, which gives scope for all employees to opt for their preferred state if vacancies exist in that particular state, and the committee should not get influenced by anyone in this regard.
With employees of both the states sticking to their guns, the committee called off the meeting abruptly, which triggered sharp protests from both AP and TS employees.
TS employees went on a flash agitation in front of D-Block, protesting the postponement of the meeting.
“We have been waiting for the past 18 months for the bifurcation of Secretariat employees. But when the day has finally come, the committee called off the process abruptly. Secretariat is the heart of government administration and every care should be taken to see that only native Telangana employees work in the TS Secretariat,” said TS Secretariat Employees’ Association leader A. Padma Chary.
AP Secretariat Employees Association president U. Murali Krishna said, “We are being asked to shift to Amaravati in June, but the committee is yet to bifurcate Secretariat employees. Without clarity on who will remain in Hyderabad and who won’t, how can we shift to AP? We want the panel to bifurcate staff as per the Act.”
There are about 250 sections in TS Secretariat with vacancies in 55. For these 45 AP employees have given options, which are being opposed by TS staff.
