Reshuffling civic body employees to test Telangana govt

Hyderabad: The TS government’s decision to implement the Unified Service Rules Act has led to simmering discontent among employees of urban local bodies. The employees are preparing for a legal battle against the Act. Leaders of employees associations say that unless the Presidential Order is amended, it wouldn’t be possible to transfer employees of urban local bodies under this Act.

However, the government insists that such a drastic step is not needed, it can transfer employees of urban local bodies from one place to other. By reshuffling employees of civic bodies, the government hopes to rein in the rampant corruption that plagues the municipalities, especially the GHMC. The government believes that reshuffling employees by way of transfers will not only end corruption, but ensure the employees are always on the edge, and hence more active.

Employees say that the government won’t find making transfers that easy as recruitment and service rules are different. They cite the example of the GHMC Act being vastly different from the TS Municipalities Act. MAUD secretary Navin Mittal said that there was need to amend the Presidential Order. “We discussed all these issues before bringing in the Act,” he said.