: It was only last week that the Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training, GoI, set a deadline for the Kamalnathan Committee to complete allocation of State cadre employees of the combined State between the successor States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by July 31.
But the way today’s meeting to decide on allocation of over 1,400 section officers and assistant section officers ended in a fiasco with a section of officers demanding postponement of the meeting and another section opposing it, it is apparent that the committee cannot complete its task without the cooperation of both State governments.
Of the 90 departments, the Kamalnathan Committee completed allocation of employees based on the options given by employees in 84 departments so far. The final division of SOs and ASOs between the two States has been hanging fire as the issue was pending in the AP Administrative Tribunal over the differences in determining their seniority. The employees had been insisting that allocation process should not be taken up without resolving the seniority issue. The APAT’s stay on allocation process was finally vacated last week as it was delaying the allocation process, but the employees moved the High Court on Tuesday and the petition was admitted.
The group of officers who moved the court wanted a postponement of the Kamalnathan Committee meeting on Wednesday, while the bulk of Telangana ASOs, temporarily serving in the AP Secretariat, wanted the division process to commence lest they will have to move to the new capital region by June-end in tune with the AP government’s decision to start working from the temporary Secretariat complex coming up at Velagapudi.
Even as AP officials expressed their reservations against postponement, as there was no consensus, Chairman Kamalnathan deferred the issue to the next meeting.
Meanwhile, sources said that of 1,409 officers of ‘Single Unit’ to be allocated between two States, 578 are section officers and 831 are ASOs.
Panel keen to involve
GoI representative
About 60 section officers of Andhra nativity will be going to Telangana, apparently against the liking of Telangana officers as will impact their promotion opportunities. In contrast, a predominant number of ASOs hails from Telangana but at present serving in AP, want the allocation completed soon. Class IV Telangana staff, serving in the AP Secretariat as there are no posts in Telangana but keen to go back to their State, too backed the ASOs in the protest. The committee is keen to have a senior GOI representative at the next meeting so that a solution could be thrashed out in line with the guidelines, sources added. The DoPT representative is expected to brief his superiors about today’s stalemate.
