Around five-and-a-half years after the state of Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the Supreme Court-appointed Justice DM Dharmadhikari Committee has finalised the allocation of electricity employees between the two states.
Out of the total 1,157 employees, 613 have been allotted to Andhra Pradesh, while the remaining 502 employees will work in Telangana. An additional 42 employees were allotted to Andhra Pradesh based on their origin of birth, as they did not spell out their preference.
Another 242 employees belonging to Telangana but working in Andhra Pradesh, were allocated to Telangana.
The issue, a long pending one, had become a contentious issue with electricity employees from Telangana threatening to strike if natives from Andhra Pradesh were regularised for service in the state.
The Dharmadhikari committee started work in January after orders by the Supreme Court to arrive on a consensus in six months. However, the deliberations between the two states were heated and it took almost one year, before the final decision was announced.
While the committee report comes as a relief to many, members of the Telangana Electricity Employees’ Joint Action Committee (TEEJAC) have expressed dissatisfaction, as some employees native to Andhra Pradesh were continuing to work in Telangana.
Speaking to reporters, TEEJAC chairman N Sivaji said that they wanted all employees who hailed from Andhra Pradesh to go back to their state, and asked the authorities to apply origin of birth as the criteria for all employees.
The employees are expected to go through the committee report on Saturday, take legal advice, and announce their future course of action.
The employees of Telangana have claimed that if those from Andhra continued within key positions in the state's power distribution companies, it would continue to hamper the chances of Telangana natives, and dilute the agitation for separate statehood.