Greater Hyderabad: Unified Area Classification Clarified by Finance Department
The Finance Department has clarified that for the purpose of recognizing seniority in employee transfers, any location within the Greater Hyderabad Muncipal Corporation (GHMC) and Greater Hyderabad area will be considered a single station. This directive was issued to address concerns raised by the Telangana Gazetted Officers’ Association regarding the disparity in Housing Rent Allowance (HRA) for employees working in distant collectorates like Ranga Reddy and Medchal Malkajgiri compared to those in the city.
Unified Seniority for Employee Transfers in Greater Hyderabad, GHMC area
In a recent directive, the Finance Department has stated that for seniority recognition in employee transfers, any location within the Greater Hyderabad area will be treated as a single station. This clarification comes after the Telangana Gazetted Officers’ Association highlighted that employees working in collectorates like Ranga Reddy and Medchal Malkajgiri, which are far from the city, receive lower HRA compared to their counterparts in the city. Consequently, these employees petitioned the Finance Department to consider them as working in different stations for transfer purposes.
The Finance Department issued orders to all departments, stating that seniority should be recorded as a single region for any location within the Greater Hyderabad limits. However, an exception is made for employees of the Ranga Reddy collectorate, which was moved from Lakdikapul to Kongara Kalan. Their seniority will be counted from the time they began working at the new location.
Employee Concerns Over Unified Area Classification
Employees have raised concerns that treating the entire Greater Hyderabad area as a single station for transfer seniority could be detrimental. The city spans areas where travel can take two to three hours due to traffic, with distances between some parts reaching 30 to 40 kilometers. Employees argue that the new rule could lead to significant losses in seniority, particularly when compared to districts where the distance between administrative centers is less than 40 kilometers and between mandals and gram panchayats is only 5 to 10 kilometers.
For instance, the distance between Qutbullapur and Hayathnagar is approximately 30 kilometers, taking over two hours to travel. Yet, all these areas are counted as one for seniority purposes. In contrast, moving just 10 kilometers from Chandanagar or Qutbullapur to Sangareddy district is treated as moving to a different station, providing a different seniority calculation. Employees argue that it is unjust to consider all areas within the city as a single station, especially given the significant distances involved.
No Dispute Over Multi-Zone Cadre Posts
In some government departments, there has been confusion regarding the classification of multi-zone cadre posts versus state-level cadre posts. Employees have sought clarification from the Finance Department. The department clarified that posts previously classified as state-level cadre before 2018 have been reclassified as multi-zone cadre according to new zonal regulations issued by the President. Despite some employee opposition, the government has directed that all transfers should now be conducted according to the multi-zone cadre system.
For example, the position of ITI Principal, previously a Telangana state cadre post, was reclassified as a multi-zone cadre post in 2018. Consequently, all transfers for ITI Principal positions must now follow the multi-zone system, and a principal working in one multi-zone cannot be transferred to another. This regulation applies to multi-zone posts in other departments as well.