It was only after 20 days of relentlessly trying to convey their grievances to the Minister of Education, concerned secretaries and the Chief Minister of Telangana, that on December 28, primary and high school teachers called for a Secretariat Muttadi (Secretariat siege) in Hyderabad. This was in protest of Government Order (GO) 317, released on December 6, 2021, the same GO concerning Telangana Public Employment, which has ruffled many feathers. Around 500 to 600 teachers were detained but, to their relief, the Telangana High Court, which received around 5,000 appeals and has accepted about half of them, directed the concerned departments to address them accordingly.
According to the GO, it is the concerned Head of Department and the District Collector of a particular district who will make the decisions when it comes to allotting jobs or finalising transfers, as a part of the allotment committee. This is for the district cadre posts. When it comes to multi-zonal and zonal posts, it will be Head of Department, Special Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and others who will arrive at a decision. It was the criteria of seniority that was given utmost importance and teachers were asked for preferences as well. This system came into place after Telangana went from 10 to 33 districts. The primary and high school teachers fall under the district cadre posts.
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The Steering Committee leader's Upadhyaya Sanghala Porata Committee (UPSC), a joint action committee of 16 teachers' associations, Chava Ravi, says that none of the teachers' association was consulted, "though they claim that Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers Association (TNGOA) and Telangana Gazetted Officers' Association (TGOA) were a part of the discussions." Then there is the question of giving importance to nativity of the teachers as well, perhaps as much as seniority. "Out of the 1,06,000 teachers, about 22,500 of them have been allocated to a district that is different from their current district. Nearly 10,000 of them have been allocated to a district that wasn't even mentioned in their preferences," he informs.
UPSC says that they have received about 8,000 complaints, out of which 50 per cent concern nativity. "With regards to Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Karimnagar and Ranga Reddy districts, there were some malpractices and manipulation. Here, in some cases, it seemed like even the seniority factor was not considered and allotment happened against the preference," shares Ravi, who is also the General Secretary of Telangana State United Teachers' Federation (TSUTF). There are also cases wherein the process was not fair towards the physically challenged, teachers who have children who are mentally-challenged and cancer too, he says.
The demands of the committee are that justice should be served when it comes to over 10,000 teachers and their nativity should be considered. Those teachers who have been posted permanently to remote areas should be posted on an ad hoc basis and they should be allowed to apply for general transfer in summers. They are hoping that by January 4, 2022, the new transfer list will be out.
Madhu Jangiti, a teacher who teaches at Zilla Parishad High School in Rahimkhanpet, Karimnagar, has been issued a transfer order to Jagtial district, which is very inconvenient because all his relatives are in his present district. "The government really needs to consider nativity," he insists. The same has happened with Mujeeba Khanam who is in Karimnagar now, but was posted to Rajanna Sircilla. This was after 18 years of services.
