AP Village Ward Secretariat: Classification of Village and Ward Secretariat employees – Trade unions protest

AP Village Ward Secretariat: The government has decided to classify secretariat employees in the state. Due to this, there is opposition among the secretariat employees. Secretariat trade unions want reconsideration of classification of secretariat employees. Trade unions believe that this is part of the regulation of the secretariat system.

The village and ward secretariats brought in by the previous government provided 540 types of services to the people. The government has not re-appointed 2.60 lakh village and ward volunteers attached to the secretariats. As a witness to the meeting, the government made it clear that the volunteers should be re-appointed. Leaders of secretariat associations claim that the government is ready to classify the secretariats. Chanchalana has decided to make the village and ward secretariat system more efficient. At present, the staff of the existing secretariats in the state is different everywhere. The Government has recently decided to solve the problem of staff imbalance in the secretariats by rationalizing it.

Efforts are being made to divide the secretariat system. There are 1,30,694 employees in 15,004 village and ward secretariats (11,162 village and 3,842 ward secretariats) in the state. The government has decided to divide the Village and Ward Secretariat jobs into three sections. The government has decided to divide it into 1. Multipurpose Officers, 2. Technical Officers and 3. Aspiring Secretaries.

However, the leaders of the Village and Ward Secretariat Employees Union are opposing the state government’s decision to distribute the employees. There is a fear that this will weaken the secretariat system and increase the burden on the employees. On the other hand, if this system is cancelled, the secretaries of the ward secretariats will be transferred to the Municipal Corporation Department and some employees of the village secretariats will be transferred to the Panchayat Raj Department.

Secretariat Employees Federation state president MD Johnny Basha and state chief secretary Bathula Ankamma Rao asked the state government to discuss the village ward secretariat system in the Joint Staff Council and take a decision about the change. He said that due to changes in the system, if such decisions have to be taken which will benefit the employees from the system, then the right way is to discuss in the Joint Employees Council. Also, before taking a decision on such a big arrangement, the cabinet and senior officials should discuss with trade unions with long experience and permanent membership.

Velpula Arlaiya, state president of AP Village and Ward Secretariat Employees Welfare Association, demanded reconsideration of the government’s decision to classify village and ward secretariat employees into three categories. The suggestions and advice of trade unions should be taken into account before taking such decisions and implementing them.

He said that due to this decision of the government, the employees of the secretariat will have to face many losses and difficulties. A three-member committee has been appointed to prepare guidelines for classification of secretariat employees? Or? If there is a system then the employees and leaders are not aware of who its members are. The committee members were asked to organize a meeting with the leaders of the trade unions on the changes to be made in their department. He asked the government as well as the concerned minister to make a clear announcement on this issue.

On the other hand, the government is already downsizing secretariat services. According to government data, 540 services are provided by village and ward secretariats. But in reality not all services are available in the secretariats. Some services related to land like 1B and Adangal have been handed over to Meeseva. Apart from this, some other services along with village secretariats have also been handed over to MISEWAS. Services like sand booking have been handed over to Meeseva. Secretariat personnel said that the network of some services has been closed.

Report: Jagadishwar Rao Jarajapu, Hindustan Times Telugu