TS staff hit by GO 317 air grievances

Hyderabad: Employees aggrieved by GO 317 aired their grievances at a gathering here on Sunday, claiming that they were being denied nativity in a state that was created to ensure justice for natives. Prof. M. Kodandaram, president of the Telangana Jana Samithi, addressed the meeting and acknowledged that GO 317 denied them nativity.

“The hurdles being faced in repealing GO 317 stem from the difference between the number of posts in the district and the number of posts that can be allotted in districts. The limit on allocable posts should be removed, and supernumerary posts created. If this is done, many employees can be accommodated," Prof. Kodandaram said.

He highlighted instances where mandals of a district were merged into another district, granting employees the option to join the new district. This, according to Prof. Kodandaram, should not have happened and could not be reopened now. He urged that employees willing to move to the nine districts where the problem is more pronounced be encouraged. He suggested discussions at the employee level to evolve a consensus before taking them to the government.

T. Vijay Kumar, president of the GO 317 Affected Employees and Teachers Union, said that with many employees set to retire from March 2024, it was feasible to accommodate affected employees.

Y. Ratnamala, the women president of the union, suggested that with the Chief Minister's directive to reopen schools, teachers could be accommodated in their native districts.

The BRS government issued GO 317 to amend the 1975 Presidential Order in 2018 without parliamentary approval. This was challenged in the High Court through a writ petition (WP 5007/2019), according to Vijay Kumar, who added that the legal route has not been abandoned.

Nageshwar Rao, working president of the GO 317 union, criticised the BRS government for implementing the order without prior discussion, despite having 36 months since its implementation.