President repeals Clause 14 (f)

HYDERABAD: President Pratibha Patil on Friday gave her consent for the deletion of Clause 14(f) of the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Organisations of Local Cadres and Regulations of Direct Recruitment) Order of 1975 which is also known as the Presidential Order. The Union Home Ministry sent a notification to this effect to the State government.The AP Public Employment (Organisations of Local Cadres and Regulations of Direct Recruitment) Amendment Order-2011 as it is called includes Hyderabad in Zone VI for recruitment to jobs in the police department.The move, a major demand of the Telangana activists, came days after the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) agreed to delete the clause. Though Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had a few weeks back suggested that the Andhra Pradesh Assembly adopt another resolution seeking the deletion of the clause, the CCPA felt there was no need for the same.Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who spoke to both Chidambaram and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and also shot off a letter to them, stressed the point that the Assembly had already adopted a resolution and urged them to delete the clause.Political parties of all hues, including the Congress, TDP and the BJP, welcomed the repeal of the clause from the Presidential Order. With its removal, decks have been cleared for the peaceful conduct of the written examination for the recruitment of SIs on Aug 13-14.Police authorities have already made elaborate arrangements in view of the vociferous demand for the postponement of the exam by the Telangana activists who had been insisting that it be held only after the deletion of the clause.Though the clause has been dropped, it will not impact the examination. According to the authorities, the notification for the vacant SI posts was issued in 2008 when the AP High Court declared Hyderabad as part of Zone VI. Since there were no vacant SI posts under the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate limits at the time, the issue of depriving job aspirants in Telangana doesn’t arise. The amended orders will come into effect whenever any future notification is issued for recruitment of police jobs.