Andhra Pradesh lodged a protest alleging partisanship by the Hyderabad Police in settling inter-governmental issues arising out of the bifurcation.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary I Y R Krishna Rao met the Cabinet Secretary and the Home Secretary in the national capital New Delhi on Saturday.
He lodged a protest on behalf of the Government of Andhra Pradesh alleging partisanship by the Hyderabad City Police in settling inter-governmental issues arising out of the A P Reorganization Act.
The Chief Secretary briefed them about a series of incidents involving the questionable role of Hyderabad Police.
Regarding the National Academy of Construction (NAC), he said IAS officer B Sam Bob, who was appointed as the Incharge Director General of the NAC, was prevented by the Police from entering the office, and was requested to return.
After prolonged arguments with the Police for an hour, he had no other option but to come back.
"Since the NAC is a Society under the Societies Registration Act with branches across the State, the Government of Telangana should have allowed the existing arrangement to continue. If there was an issue, the Telangana government should have referred it to the Government Of India for a settlement. But the institution has been taken over by the Government of Telangana. Meanwhile, the local police used their power to their advantage. Workplaces of Andhra-origin employees have been sealed, and they were virtually necked out of the office," the Chief Secretary complained.
He also spoke about the National Institute of Tourism & Hospitality Management (NITHM), an Institution under the Tourism Department. In the undivided State of Andhra Pradesh, the Special Chief Secretary Tourism was the chairperson of the institution.
"The Government of Telangana issued a Government Order (GO) and appointed its own Chairman for this organization. When the existing chairperson Chandana Khan, IAS, of the rank of Secretary to Government of India, went to office, the Police prevented her from entering her office. She virtually sat on the pavement for an hour. As a sign of protest, she held a meeting on the pavement. The Telangana government, in this issue, too, did not follow any mechanism of adjudication as mentioned in the Act," he said.
He then mentioned the case of the A P State Remote Application Center (APSRAC), a Society under the Societies Registration Act.
"In this case, too, the Government of Telangana issued a GO unilaterally and took over the Institution. Employees of the Andhra region were sent out of the organization. One of the officers working there was picked up by the police and was detained in the police station on the issue relating to transfer of certain deposits which the officer was within his rights to do," the Chief Secretary said.
A few days ago, in the case of the A P Building Construction Workers Welfare Fund, the share belonging to Andhra Pradesh Government in the fund, which was under the control and management of the Additional Commissioner of Labour of Andhra Pradesh, was transferred to banks located at Vijayawada to help get loans under the Government program to the beneficiaries.
Stating that a flimsy complaint was filed in this regard by the Telangana Commissioner of Labour without verifying the facts of the case, Krishna Rao said that the Hyderabad Police registered a case against the Andhra Pradesh officers, and went to the house of the Additional Commissioner of Labour, misbehaved with his wife and others present there, and sealed his office.
"While these incidents took place in the morning, the complaint was lodged by the Commissioner of Labour at 1:15pm. What was disturbing was that the Hyderabad Police entered the A P Secretariat and apprehended the Commissioner of Labour and the Additional Commissioner of Labour. They forced the driver out of the vehicle, and with the help of a police driver, took control of the vehicle," he said.
The Commissioner and Additional Commissioner of Labour were questioned by the Hyderabad Police for hours. The Hyderabad City Police went around bank branches stating that a criminal case was filed, and insisted on getting back the deposits transferred to Vijayawada.
"The Telangana Chief Secretary held a meeting of all the bankers wherein the Commissioner of Police, Telangana, was also present, and threatened to file Criminal Cases in the event of the funds transferred to other places not being brought back," the AP Chief Secretary told the Central officials, adding that a circular was issued stating that civil and criminal action would be initiated if instructions given by the Telangana Government were not followed.
Citing all these instances, a request was made to the Cabinet Secretary and Home Secretary to operationalize Section 8 of the A P Reorganization Act, 2014, by framing necessary rules so that the city police could come under the neutral authority of the Governor. (INN)