Hyderabad: Employees at the Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation (TSCSC) are hopeful of the Congress government starting the recruitment process after the model code of conducts ends on June 4.
The last hiring for the Civil Suppliers Corporation happened in 2011 when the state was ruled by the Congress government, Following which, the corporation was conducting its affairs mainly through contract and outsource employees. Every eight in 10 employees at the corporation are temporary staff.
According to employees, there is a dire need to recruit staff and rejig existing ones who have been continuing in the same positions without transfers for more than five to six years now. This, they say, has given scope for vested interests to develop in collusion with the political establishment.
Civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy had recently expressed grave concern over the state of affairs in the corporation which had resulted in a debt of ₹ 56,000 crore and losses of ₹ 11,000 crore under the previous government. Officials said that the corporation had repaid more than ₹ 6,000 crore in the last five months.
The corporation also faces the problem of staff who have overstayed their deputation. Incidentally, the shortage of staff does not benefit the corporation and only results in savings for the Centre.
An officer said the sanctioned posts of 98 quality verification personnel will need to be filled to monitor this. As of now, there are 43 outsourced and 45 retired quality personnel, with just 10 of them on permanent rolls. Complaints have been raised on these personnel also in some districts.
Owing to shortage of staff, many assistant managers and the assistant civil supplies officers are doubling up as district managers and district civil supplies officers. Sources said that even the enforcement deputy tahsildar under the assistant civil supplies officers, tasked with inspection of PDS shops, petrol bunks and gas agencies, have been working in the same post beyond norms.
This situation is evident in districts like Sircilla, Mahabubnagar, Vikarabad, Medchal, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Mancherial, Medchal, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri and Kamareddy districts.
Explaining the rationale, an official said, “The Centre government pays around ₹ 20 per quintal of paddy procured by the TSCSC. The corporation has procured around 137 LMT (lakh metric tonnes) in 2022-23 and spent around the same amount for distribution of each quintal of rice to the consumers. The corporation distributes around 24 LMT of rice per annum.”
“These activities bring in around ₹ 320 crore to the corporation per annum and the TSCSC spends around ₹ 80 crore on salaries for staff every year. The remaining amount goes to the Centre. The Telangana government can as well recruit staff and provide employment for the youth.”
