Hyderabad, May 24 – Telangana’s first chief minister designate, Kalavuntala Chandrasekhara Rao (better known as KCR), is both a rabble rouser and candid commentator adept at taking the bull by its horns.
At his first meeting with select government employees on May 22, ahead of assuming office in June, KCR triggered a fresh wave of controversy on the nativity of government employees. He declared that, post-division on June 2, those who belong by birth or domicile to Seemandhra cannot work for the Telangana administration.
“How can the Telangana government maintain secrecy if it does not have its own employees? If they want to make this as a big issue and fight it out we are ready for the fight. All non-locals will have to go. There is no compromise on this,” asserts the TRS chief.
True to his style, KCR laced the statement with a no-nonsense warning: “If Andhra employees still want to work in Telangana departments, we will show them their place.” Post-partition pangs are bound to fuel suspicions besides competition between the two states.
There is more to it considering the majority of government departments have more employees who hail from the 13 districts of residual Andhra Pradesh than the ten in Telangana and, in several higher echelons in the undivided state’s administration, few from Telangana have reached the top. A classic case is the state’s law department where the present principal secretary is the first from the region.
Telangana employee unions’ leaders cite many examples. They point out that not only many have them have lost an academic year during the earlier statehood agitation of the 1970s but have also been deprived of promotional avenues by the domineering presence in numbers of employees from Seemandhra.
Having failed to reverse the trend they hope through bifurcation they can improve their career prospects. That is not all. There will be creation of vacancies when those from residual Andhra Pradesh move out. For KCR that will be a golden opportunity to fulfill his pre-poll promise of providing more government jobs.
Those from Seemandhra, who want to stay on in the emerging Telangana administration, point out that relocation costs are high and, for which, they will receive no compensation. “Chandrababu Naidu is a quick decision-maker and he will shift the capital in a couple of years.
“Where do we go to find the money for getting fresh admissions for our children and rent or build a home in or near the new capital,” rues a mid-career official, admitting he cannot resist the prospective shift for long.
KCR is conscious the vexatious nativity issue can lead to a bitter conflict. He had already informed Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan that redeployment of employees will be reviewed after he takes charge as this process was not permitted in the absence of an elected government as per the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission.
In the run-up, he has asked Telangana employee unions’ leaders to collate details of birth and domicile of suspect Seemandhra employees by June 2 for a thorough scrutiny. By disclosing this at proposed ‘war rooms’ of the unions in advance, the TRS chief is hopeful of a smooth transition. If only the Seemandhra employees view it in the same spirit.
-INDIA TODAY
