Staff in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh crossfire
Officials don’t know which government’s orders to follow
By : L. Venkat Ram Reddy
Update: 2014-11-01 02:13 GMT
Hyderabad: Officials and employees are bearing the brunt as the Telangana and AP governments are locked in a battle of one-upmanship to gain control over the joint institutions that are supposed to offer common services to both the states. Bank deposits worth hundreds of crores of rupees remain with the AP government since these institutions were created in the united AP.
On the other hand, the Telangana government has been setting up its own institutions unilaterally and seeking its share of funds, which is being strongly opposed by AP. The recent police case against two AP labour department officials for alleged diversion of funds to AP has created fears among the staff of similar such joint institutions.
Institutions in Hyderabad such as the AP State Council of Higher Education, Board of Intermediate Education-AP, AP State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (APSRSAC), AP Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board etc. have deposits in various banks in the city.
APSCHE has deposits worth over Rs 120 crore. The Telangana government, which established its own TSCHE, has sought its share of funds in the ratio of 52:48. However, AP refused to oblige saying that the body would have to be divided by mutual consent.
Similarly, the Board of Intermediate Education has deposits worth nearly Rs 600 crore and the Telangana government is seeking its share of funds by setting up its own BIE.
APSRSAC has deposits worth Rs 23 crore and recently, Telangana established its own centre. This led to a controversy with the AP government transferring the funds to its centre located in Vijayawada.
With the division of these bodies without the consent of both the governments, officials and staff working in these institutions are confused over whose directions to follow. They are not in a position to decide with each state bringing pressure on them to follow their orders.
While AP wants common Inter exams and Eamcet, Telangana state wants to conduct its own exams. Officials in BIE and APSCHE are confused over how to go ahead since they are forced to report to both the governments with education being in the common services list for 10 years.
“If we accept the orders of one government, we are facing the wrath of the other. The ministers and officials are taking us to task for not complying with their orders. This has been causing severe delays in initiating the exam process. If both the governments fail to give clarity on these issues, it will not be possible to conduct the exams on time in March,” said a senior official of BIE.
Lower-rung staff working on contract in these institutions are the worst-affected as neither government has been paying them salaries for the last three-four months.
“The lower-rung staff has been distributed between both the states. However, each state is denying us salaries, saying that we were appointed by the other state. All the committees are taking care of only higher-level officials but no one is bothered about small-time employees in these institutions,” said a contract employee.