Articles
Moving Admin Staff of a Telecom Division from Hyderabad to Khammam & Moving the A.P Secretariat from Hyderabad to Amaravati
Dt: 30/5/16
Moving Admin Staff of a Telecom Division from Hyderabad to Khammam
&
Moving the A.P Secretariat from Hyderabad to Amaravati
Dr T.H.Chowdary*
It was in 1981 -82 I was the Chief General Manager (GM) of Telecommunications in Andhra Pradesh. I wowed to expand the telecoms rapidly to see that every district has one telecom division and every village a pubic telephone. When I took over in 1978 there were eight divisions. By the time I moved over to the Directorate as Dy Director General in 1983 I had expanded the telecom system so that every one of the 23 districts has a telecom division.
2. When the Khammam telecom division was created, its Head Quarters should have been in Khammam. But the previous management allowed the division’s Head Quarter to stay in Hyderabad “temporarily”. I found that even after 2 to 3 years, the HQ was in Hyderabad whereas the subscribers were in Khammam district . Telecom employees like linemen, telephone operators, junior engineers and sub-divisional officers were in that district while the clerks and the accounts- men and the divisional engineer were in Hyderabad. These were getting a good HRA while the staff in Khammam could not get that. This was an absolutely anti-subscriber, anti-worker situation for the benefit of about 30 to 40 people in all, sitting in Hyderabad. I issued orders for all the staff to go to Khammam.
3. Some union leaders went to the then Law Minister, Sri Shiv Shankar and represented to him that I was anti-BC and S.C and that I was moving the staff from Hyderabad to Khammam to hurt the BSs, SCs and the poor. Shivshankarji did not go deep into the matter but spoke to Sri C.M.Stephen the Communication Minster . Sri Stephen directed me to withdraw the order shifting the Head Quarters staff to Khammam from Hyderabad . I went to Sri Shivshankar in Delhi and explained to him the true situation - 80% of the staff working are living in Khammam district . These are line men, mazdoors, telephone operators and
junior engineers . They are serving the thousands of subscribers who are in Khammam district. It is only the staff in the Divisional Head Quarter not more than 40 who were staying in Hyderabad . There is no question of BC or SC. All the staff were recruited division wise; that is, people from Khammam district only could apply and get the job in Khammam division. It is absolutely false to say that BC s, SCs are affected by my order to move the staff from Hyderabad to Khammam.
4. Shivshankarji immediately realised his mistake, took me to Stephen’s room and told him that he was given the false representation and that is why he wanted Sri Stephen to countermand the GM’s order to move the staff from Hyderabad to Khammam. Sri Stephen smiled and then said, “Mr Chowdary! you have done the right thing . I had been misinformed. Please go ahead”.
5. That very afternoon from Delhi I called a trusted officer in the GMs office. I asked him to get five lorries and 20 very strong mazdoors and draw a few thousand rupees cash . At 5’O clock in the evening, the Head Quarter office of the Khammam division in Hyderabad should be surrounded and all the tables and files and furniture and everything should simply be loaded into the lorries, whosoever wanted the transfer advance would be paid then and there itself. The divisional engineer was ordered to move along with the lorries and report to me while I was in Delhi that by midnight the entire office should shifted and the office in Hyderabad should be locked & sealed. If he would not do this he would be suspended, I said, “The twenty mazdoors went into action at ten minutes to 5 pm”. The staff were stunned. They thought of moving the High Court but I spoke to the Chief Justice Kondaiah garu on pain of being prosecuted. I explained to him what happened. The Chief Justice heard in silence but smilingly said that I could be hauled up for contempt of court because of this request. I told him I was prepared to undergo any punishment but the staff meant for Khammam division should be working in Khammam and not sitting in Hyderabad and lording over the staff and subscribers in Khammam district. The operation was successful.
6. I am recalling this event in the context of the staff in the Secretariat of the Andhra Pradesh government in Hyderabad not willing to go to Amaravathi. A determined leader with the courage of conviction and right on his side, can do the right things without fear . (762 words)
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