AP staff oppose transfer circular

HYDERABAD: AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s plans to shift government employees to Vijayawada received a serious blow as almost all employees’ unions on Wednesday decided to oppose the circular issued by chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao on Tuesday.
Upping the ante, AP government employees working in Hyderabad have decided to insist on a clear-cut road map from the state government on shifting of staff to Vijayawada.
Annoyed by the circular issued by the chief secretary directing all employees to shift to Vijayawada by June 1, several employees’ associations held meetings on Wednesday and found fault with the circular.
“In previous meetings, the chief secretary and senior officials assured us of consultation and consensus. Now, a unilateral circular was issued by the chief secretary without holding discussions on the shifting,” said an office-bearer of the revenue staff association.
Employees’ associations of agriculture, marketing, cooperation, animal husbandry, revenue, roads and buildings, education, irrigation, energy and secretariat have expressed displeasure over the circular and the deadline set by the government. While some unions decided to meet the chief secretary, others are planning to visit Vijayawada to meet the chief minister to discuss the issue.
“Without identifying the location of offices how can any employee relocate his family? We don’t know where the offices are located. But the circular says that we should make arrangements for the transfer. We also need to look for good educational institutions for our children,” said AP secretariat employees’ association president U Muralikrishna.
There is visible anxiety in 26,000 odd AP employees working in Hyderabad. Most of them have settled in the city and the idea of shifting at a short notice is making them sleepless.
During internal meetings, some employees pointed out that they have old parents, who require sophisticated medical attention, which is available only in Hyderabad.
“We cannot relocate our children if they are pursuing medicine or engineering as inter-university transfer is not allowed,” said a senior engineer in water resources department.
Most of the employees questioned the rationality behind the shifting of offices to Vijayawada when Hyderabad is the joint capital for 10 years. A senior superintendent in secretariat came up with a proposal to seek legal relief for employees, whose children are pursuing higher studies in Hyderabad.
There was commotion in AP Secretariat on Wednesday and almost all departments witnessed group meetings and discussions over the circular issued by the government.
“There is no clarity over local status of our children and issues like house rent allowance (HRA) are not sorted out yet. Without any discussion it is not proper to force employees to move to Vijayawada,” said Muralikrishna.