Revenue officials in Mancherial district seem to have taken umbrage at Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s opinion of the department when he spoke his heart out during a telephonic conversation with farmer Kondapalli Sharath of Nennel mandal in the district on March 27. The high point of the conversation was a castigating mention of corruption in the revenue department.
Though not protesting openly, officials and staff of Mancherial tahsildar office on Friday observed work-to-rule protest (a form of agitation in which employees do exactly what is stated in their contracts, and nothing more, in order to slow down production).
Unusual practice
The officials locked the office at 5.30 pm while closing work for the day, an unusual practice, but refused to divulge if the ‘protest’ was going to continue.
Inquiries revealed the officials and staff were indeed protesting the CM’s remark with regard to unjust transfer of Mr. Sharath’s land in someone else’s name, but did not come out openly in view of the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha election. “We will also wait till elections are over,” said an official.
The Chief Minister had revealed plans to do away with corruption in the department with the help of farmers and people like Mr. Sharath. He had even exhorted the latter to create awakening among his ilk to take on corrupt officials.
TRESA non-comittal
The Telangana Revenue Employees Services Association (TRESA) was non-committal, but it is learnt that the issue is being discussed threadbare before any action plan is launched.
“It is indeed a sorry state of affairs,” remarked an office bearer of TRESA.
‘Autocratic move’
Meanwhile, sources said the State leadership of the organisation is likely to visit Mancherial some time next week to assess the situation. “This is basically to build confidence among officials,” said an employee.
The TRESA is also seized of the issue cropping up out of the method of dealing with the issue of the farmer from Nennel mandal. “It was autocratic,” another employee added.
Meanwhile, tahsildars and other revenue employees in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district submitted a representation to District Collector Rajeevgandhi Hanumanthu informing him that they have started to work as per rule. They said this was in response to the Chief Minister’s castigation of the department.
