Five points on which Governor sought clarification; Chief Secretary’s reply

Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari said proposed Bill provides only for absorption of the establishment of the TSRTC into government service.

Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who made public statements indirectly accusing the State government of introducing the TSRTC merger bill “haphazardly”, had on Friday sought clarifications via her secretary in a letter to the Chief Secretary.

The first point she mentioned in the letter was that “crucial information” regarding the equity, loan, grant or any other assistance of the Government of India, was not provided in the bill. Stating that these were required for her ‘comprehensive understanding and proper evaluation’ of the bill, the Governor also said the permissibility of altering the nature of the Corporation under the law necessitated examination, since it was included in Schedule IX of the AP Reorganisation Act and the final bifurcation “between’ the two States.

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“While the draft bill acknowledges the application of existing rules to TSRTC employees, it does not expressly specify whether the Industrial Disputes Act is applicable to them or not,” she said. The fourth point was that the draft bill “lacks clarity on the applicability of pension provisions to TSRTC employees on par with other Government employees. The fifth point was that detailed provisions pertaining to cadre normalisation after the absorption of the employees on par with existing Government employees was absent from the draft bill, as posts like conductors and controllers in the RTC were not available in the government.

CS clarifies Governor’s doubts on TSRTC bill

Giving a point by point clarification for all the doubts raised by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan over the proposed TSRTC merger bill, Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari said proposed Bill provides only for absorption of the establishment of the TSRTC into government service.

In a letter sent to the Governor’s secretary, Santhi Kumari said the TSRTC would continue to function in its existing legal entity and form in all other respects after absorption of its employees into the Government.

Giving clarifications on each of the points raised by the Governor with regard to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill, the Chief Secretary said the equity contributions of the State and Central governments to the APSRTC in the united State were Rs.140.20 crore and Rs.61.07 crore respectively.

After the merger, the Corporation Board would continue as the Apex Body of the TSRTC under the provisions of the RTC Act, 1950, to manage the issues pertaining to equity, loan, grant or other assistance of Government of India and other related matters. Therefore, it was not necessary to mention any of these details in the Statement of Objects and Reasons, she wrote.

The nature of the Corporation would not be changed till the bifurcation issues are settled. The issues pertaining to bifurcation are under examination by the Government of India, after submission of views by both the State Governments, she pointed out.

“The applicability of the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act after absorption of the TSRTC employees into government service, would be as per the provisions of the said Act. No provision in this regard is required in the proposed Bill. The interests of the existing employees are best served by absorption into the State government, which in fact is one of the main objects of the proposed Bill,” Santhi Kumari said.

Stating categorically that there was no ambiguity in the proposed Bill in regard to the applicability of pension provisions or other provisions applicable to government employees to the TSRTC employees, post their absorption into government service, she said the Government was empowered by relevant sections to frame, by notification, such provisions in the interests of the employees.

“Till such time a considered view is taken in these matters by the Government, after discussing the matter with all the stakeholders, the Bill provides that the existing rules and regulations governing the TSRTC employees would continue to apply in the interim period. Sections 4 and 5 of the proposed Bill are within the permitted norms of delegated legislation,” she said.

“No employee would be put to any hardship in terms of salaries and allowances. There is no bar to continue the various categories and cadres presently in TSRTC, post their absorption in government service also, by framing suitable service rules in that regard,” the Chief Secretary clarified, adding that the limited object of the Bill was to provide an exception to the provisions of the Telangana Prohibition of Employees of State Government Public Sector Undertakings into Public Service Act, 1997 State Act 14 of 1997 which prohibits absorption of employees working in PSUs into public service and matter related thereto.

In view of the clarification given, the Chief Secretary also requested the Governor to recommend the bill to be introduced and considered in the Assembly.