Lagadapati, Students Want SI Exams

Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajgopal on Tuesday requested the state government to conduct the Sub Inspector (SI) exams in the 5th and 6th zones of the state, which were indefinitely postponed in December 2010 due to the arguments over Clause 14 (F) that all state capitals are free zones.

According to the Presidential Order, 1975, the 5th and 6th zone cover the districts of Telangana. The 5th zone covers Adilabad, Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam, while the 6th zone has under its umbrella the districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar, Medak and Nalgonda.

In December 2010, the Telangana Students Joint Action Committee (TSJAC) and other elements of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had protested against the conduction of the written exams for the post of Sub-Inspector.

The Telangana activists had demanded that Clause 14 (F) of the AP Public Employment Order 1975 (which deals with the organisation of local cadres and regulation of direct recruitment) be deleted.

The Clause allows students from across the state to contend for the posts of Sub-Inspector in Hyderabad, and the students demanded that such government posts in the city must be accessible only to those hailing from Telangana.

In the face of wide-spread protests, the government was forced to postpone the exams.

Lagadapati questioned the rationale behind linking the free zone issue to the SI recruitments. He pleaded the government not to spoil the careers of the 18,000 students training for the role of an SI.

SI aspirants, speaking to the media, said that they were training for over 3 years now to be able to fare well in the SI exams. A student begged the government not to jeopardise their careers, and requested the authorities to conduct the SI exams.

On the other hand, Telangana MPs Vivek and Balaram Nayak are asking the government to refrain from conducting the exams till the issue of the 14 (F) clause is cleared. They informed the media that they had met Union Minister for Law and Justice Veerappa Moily, and that they were progressing with their discussions.

TRS leader Harish Rao and Ravi also supported the MLAs' call for holding back from conducting the exams.