Need to amend Presidential Orders on Article 371 (D) :Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Need to amend Presidential Orders on Article 371 (D)

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has felt that there is a need to amend the Presidential Orders with reference to article 371 (D), which is meant for government appointments under the then united Andhra Pradesh State. {Article 371 (D) forms a part of the Constitution of India. It safeguards the rights of local people in employment and education and was created after agitation in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It was incorporated as the 32nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1974. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states have been vested with certain safeguards in education and employment through Article 371 D at the time of bifurcation. Provisions were made in the AP State Reorganization Act, 2014, for suitable amendments to be carried out accordingly}. The CM said that there is also a need for fresh orders from the President for the newly formed Telangana state and accordingly the state government will send proposals in this regard. The CM said for the administrative convenience new districts are formed in the Telangana state increasing their number from 10 to 31 and hence there should be formation of new zones. He said it is necessary to finalize district, zone, multi-zone, State wide posts and hence the necessity for the formation of new zones. Accordingly, the CM has constituted a Committee with ministers and officials to study and prepare proposals on which post belongs to which cadre? How many zones are to be there? How many districts should be under the jurisdiction of one zone? How to divide the four cadre posts and other related issues.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting on job recruitments in Telangana state, Zonal system, Presidential Orders, Administrative Mechanism and so on. Senior Officers including Chief Secretary and Non-Officials participated in the meeting including Deputy Chief Minister, Ministers and Elected Representatives as well as Advocate General.

A detailed and comprehensive discussion took place on what should be the guidelines for the new recruitments? Should the zonal system be continued? Should it be abolished? If Zones are there to stay then how many Zones should be there? How many cadres should be created? How to implement the Presidential orders promulgated in the united AP in the Telangana state? How to clear the litigations arising out of the promotions? Should DSP be constituted based on the new districts? Or should it be based on the old districts? And other related issues.

The officials have expressed their opinion on whether to abolish zonal system and keep the district and state cadre, should the zonal system continue. The ministers and officials are unanimous in saying that there will be problems with only the district and state cadres and there will not be any advantage. They felt that for the sake of those seeking jobs and better administration, district, zonal, multi zonal, state cadre posts are better. The Advocate general and Law secretary also expressed similar views. With this, the chief minister has decided to continue the four cadre posts. Advocate General suggested that the state should ask the centre for new Presidential orders in the place of the existing Orders. Both the CM and Ministers have accepted this suggestion.

“Under the united AP, The President issued Orders so that there will not be any injustices done for the locals under the united AP. It was also clearly mentioned that which districts come under which zone. Till date recruitments are being made based on these Orders. Newly 21 districts are formed. This has changed the entire state map. Now it is not possible to implement the old Orders. Hence, we should form new zones. Presently, there are only two zones in the Telangana State. This number should be increased. We should finalize which districts come under what Zone.  For this we will appoint a Committee with the Ministers and officials. They will study all aspects of it and draft a proposal. Based on the Committee’s recommendations the state Cabinet will pass a resolution. We will propose that a new Presidential order is required for the newly formed Telangana state. I will personally go and meet the union Home Minister in New Delhi and see to it that the new Orders are issued soon,” the CM clarified.

“Under the united AP, a lot of injustice was done to the Telangana people in appointments, promotions and in postings. They have invented backdoor methods to violate the Presidential orders. They have created new institutions which did not come under the Presidential orders. They have given postings, promotions and appointments according to their will. This should not happen in Telangana state. Every appointment made by the government should be done in tune with the Presidential orders. Public sector Undertakings like Singareni, RTC, Transco, Genco etc., should also come under the Presidential order purview. It should be known which post is under what cadre. There should be clarity on the promotions. For this there should be an in-depth study done. Which post come under what Zone? What should be the zonal system set up? How to determine multi-zone, state level posts? All these and other related issues, the Committee should study. The Committee should have meetings with the Collectors, secretaries of all the departments and take decisions accordingly. The Committee should talk to the employees’ unions. Prepare a higher system for the new Presidentla Orders. After the Presidential New Orders all the recruitments should be done according to these orders. Have a scientific approach while determining the local status. Pursuing studies outside the state should not come in the way of deciding local status. Some local are losing on this. There need to be changes in this. The Committee should study all these issues and give proposals. Officials should utilize their vast experience while preparing the proposals. The proposals should be litigation free and the new system should pave way for Bangaru Telangana,” the CM said.

It is decided at the meeting that the district cadre posts will be based on the new districts. The CM said the notification on cadre posts should be based on the new districts as the new districts are formed for the benefit of the locals.

The Committee formed to prepare proposals for the new Presidential orders include, Deputy CM Kadiam Srihari, Ministers Harish Rao, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Etela Rajender, Chief Secretary SP Singh, senior officials SK Joshi, Suresh Chandra, Ajay Mishra, BR Meena, Rajiv Ranjan Acharya, Adhar Sinha and DGP Anurag Sharma.