Chairmen and managing directors of the power utilities of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are likely to meet on April 21 to sort out the differences in the division of the staff and prepare draft guidelines.
The decision comes at the end of the two-day proceedings of the committee headed by former Supreme Court judge D.M. Dharmadhikari. The meeting of the heads of the power utilities should take place before the next meeting of the committee slated for April 30 and May 1.
The two utilities are at loggerheads over the criterion for division of the staff of utilities.
The Telangana utilities led by its Energy Secretary Arvind Kumar insisted that nativity of the employees form an important part for allocation of the employees between the utilities of the two States. Telangana advocate-general K. Ramakrishna Reddy also cited the provisions of Section 82 and other relevant provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act for making nativity basic principle of allocation along with other factors.
The Andhra Pradesh power utilities represented by APGenco joint secretary V. Usha said there had been no effective consultations between the power utilities of the two States. Andhra Pradesh had proposed that nativity be determined not only by the place of birth, but also on the basis of educational record of the employees concerned which was furnished at the time of their recruitment.
Andhra Pradesh advocate general P. Venugopal pointed out the relevant sections of the Reorganisation Act as well as the Presidential Order issued under Article 371D of the Constitution in support of the contention that four years’ continuous study in an educational institution could be the criterion to determine whether the allocable employee was a local candidate or not. The Telangana power utilities, however, contended that the Presidential Order was applicable to the erstwhile unified State only with respect of civil services and it was not applicable for the newly formed State.
After hearing the arguments from the two sides, Justice Dharmadhikari suggested that the two sides study the draft guidelines framed by each other for allocation and come up with concrete proposals with respect to employees considered for allocation between the two States. The two sides had agreed to the proposal made by the chairman and give final shape to the guidelines for submission before the court.
