Sudden transfers drive government employees up the wall

Hyderabad: Sudden transfers of state government employees en masse as part of implementation of the new zonal system do not seem to have gone well with thousands of employees across the state.

They are said to be anguished over the transfers being made in a hurried manner without addressing their concerns in the allotment of employees to new districts and zones. They raise objections over the state government giving more preference to seniority over nativity while making transfers. They resist transfers in the middle of the academic year arguing that their children's education will be hit if they are transferred at this stage.

The government has initiated the process to seek options from employees on their preferred districts for transfers. The process started in undivided Warangal, Mahbubnagar,

Rangareddy and Nizamabad districts last week. The process will be initiated in undivided Karimnagar, Adilabad, Khammam, Nalgonda and Medak districts on December 16, when code of conduct for MLC poll ends.

The state government has decided to allocate employees to new districts, zones and multi zones based on a new zonal system for government recruitments, taking into consideration the increase in districts from 10 to 33 and zones from two to six besides creating two multi-zones. The new zonal system was brought to ensure 95 per cent reservations for locals in each district, zone and multi zone.

Employees now question the rationale behind giving more priority to seniority over nativity arguing that if seniority is followed, more non-locals among existing employees will get new postings which will defeat the very purpose of the zonal system. However, the government argues that 95 per cent reservations to locals as per new zonal system will be applicable to fresh recruitments and existing employees will be adjusted in districts based on the old zonal system.

Employees associations point out that the en masse transfer of employees will be normally taken up during summer vacation for educational institutions so that the children of employees pursuing education in schools and colleges at present do not face troubles due to transfer of their parents in the middle of the academic year. But in his case, the state government is undertaking transfer of employees in the middle of the academic year. They want the government to halt the process until summer.

When new districts were formed in October 2016, around 60,000 employees in old districts were allocated to new districts. Another 5,000 employees were shifted from one zone to other. Besides, another 10,000 fresh recruits since 2015 were allocated to their non-native zones. The government now wants to transfer these 75,000 employees to their native districts and zones.

This apart, around 50,000 employees have been recruited in various departments since the formation of state in 2014. They will be given the option to move to their native districts based on their seniority.