Telangana History The 1969 Agitation for seperate Telangana State

Chenna Reddy and Telangana Praja Samithi

Although the Congress faced some dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states. As a result, detectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana Praja Samithi(TPS) political party in 1969 which intensified the movement. In June, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came to Hyderabad to discuss the issue with Telangana leaders. Telangana employee unions started strike on June 10 support¬ing Telangana movement. Major leaders of the movement were jailed in July and released in August upon court’s intervention. With the success of bye elections, TPS became full fledged political party. Due to Congress party’s refusal of formation of Telangana state, TPS decided to contest Parliamentary election alone even though Congress party tried to become electorally. In May 1971 parliamentary elections, Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out the 14 Parliament seats in Telangana. Despite these electoral successes, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 after realising that the Prime Minister was not inclined to towards a separate state of Telangana, and rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress.. In a book written by then Secretary of External Affairs, T.N. Kaul and published in 1982, he mentioned that in 1969 Prime minister Indira Gandhi wanted to commence the process of forma¬tion of a separate state for Telangana by instructing Sri P.N. Haksur, her senior secretary in the PMO, but she had to withdraw at the last minute due tointervention by Kaul who disguised her from it by reminding that Hyderabad’s case was pending in the Security Council.
United Nations dropped the Hyderabad’s case on 2nd September, 1979.
During this period, the Government promised to correct what critics saw as a violation of the promises of the Gentlemen agreement in the areas of jobs, budget allocations, and educational facilities. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was strongly against the division of the state, but on her recommendation, P.V. Narasimha Rao became the first Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from Telangana on 30 September, 1971. In 1972, candidates of the Telangana Praja Samithi party contested all the available seats for the assembly elections. However, only Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao got elected, from Vardhannapet constituency in Warangal District.

V.B. Raju’s United Front

Valluri Basava Raju, popularly known as V.B. Raju was a veteran of the Andhra Maha Sabhas. He wanted his due share in the separate Telangana agitation. So he started his own front for the same cause. As he fell out from Chenna Reddy, those who opposed the latter sided with Raju. Raju had the blessings of Nukala Ramachandra Reddy and Konda Lakshman Bapuji.
V.B. Raju can well be compared to Kala Venkata Rao in evolving political strategies. But he was not fortunate enough to complete full term of office as minister. He first joined Burgula Ramakrishna Rao cabinet as minister in 1952 but resigned without completing his term. Later he joined Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy’s cabinet but had to resign after three years as the Election Tribunal declared his election invalid. He contested the 1967 elections and joined Kasu Brahmananda Reddy’s cabinet as min¬ister of Revenue. Though he was close to the chief minister, he created ripples by suggesting that Kasu should resign to uphold the unity of Andhra Pradesh and resigned. Later he became a member of Rajya Sabha and quit national politics.

The Causes for Telangana Movement

The injustice meted out to local government employees was the chief cause for Telangana agitation When Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh unified the government services of Telangana and Andhra, the Telangana employees were put to great loss. The report of the State Central Advisory Committee over this issue was put aside by Reddy’s government. Later the report of the Provincial Council appointed to study the same issue was also met with the same fate.
Sanjeeva Reddy also abolished the post of deputy chief minister which was to have been given to a Telanganist leader, describing the post as the unwanted sixth finger (for some people) on the hand.
Later the government of the chief minister N.T. Rama Rao issued G.O.610 to correct the chronic injustices done to the Telangana employees in 1985. This G.O. was necessitated due to the warped vision of the successive governments.

The G.O. 610

The G.O’s 1st para, which is generally known as Presidential Order contains principles regarding Organisation of Local Cadres allotment of personnel of the various Departments to the various local cadres, method of direct recruitment to the various categories, inter-local cadre in transfers etc. of the employees holding those posts. In the G.Os 2nd and 3rd pera read above clarificatory instructions were issued regarding procedure for implementation of the various provisions of the Presidential Order.
2. In accordance with the provisions of the Presidential Order, local cadres have been organised to the various categories of posts in all Government Departments and allotment of personnel was made as per the guidelines contained in paragraph 4 of the said order.
3. In the representation 4th pera cited, the President, Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers Union has represented that certain allotments have been made in violation of the provisions of the Presidential Order. The Government after carefully examining the issues raised in the representation and after having wide ranging discussion with the representatives of the Union have entered into an agreement with the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers Union on 07-12-1985.
5. As per the terms of agreement the following orders are issued:

(1) The employees allotted after 18-10-1975 to Zones V & VI in violation of zonalisation of local cadres under the Six Point Formula will be repatriated to their respective zones by 31-03¬1986 by creating supernumerary posts wherev¬er necessary.
(2) In respect of Jurala, Srisailam Left Canal and Sriramsagar Project Stage-II, all the staff in the Non-Gazetted categories both technical and non-technical including Asst. Executive Engineers (formerly JEs) coming under zonali¬sation of local cadres under the Presidential Order of 1975 who were posted to the projects from outside zones V and VI after 01-03-1983, will be retransferred to their respective zones and posted either in existing vacancies in vari¬ous Government Establishments in those zones or in supernumerary posts where vacancies are not available. Towards this the Government will also move the Government of India for seeking amendment to Government of India’s notification G.S.R. 525(E) dated 28-06-1985 to give retrospective effect to this order with effect from 01-03-1983.
(3) (a) In respect of appeals filed against orders of allotment made under paragraph 4 of the Presidential Order of 1975 to the competent authority in time and where such appeals are still pending disposal, all such cases where details are furnished by the T.N.G.Os Union or individuals, shall be disposed of by 31-03-1986.
(b) As a result of the above exercise, consequential vacancies if any, arising shall be filled up as per the procedure laid down under the Presidential Order.
(4) In respect of first level Gazetted posts in certain Departments which are outside the purview of the Presidential Order, action should be taken to re view the question of inclusion of such posts also in the scheme of localisation and the mat¬ter should be taken up with the Government of India for suitable amendment to the said order.
(5) The posts in Institutions/Establishment notified in G.S.R. No.526 (E) dated:18-10-1975 shall be filled up by drawing persons on tenure basis from different local cadres on an equitable basis as per the orders issued in the G.O. 3rd read above.
(6) The provision in Pera 5(2) (c) of the Presidential Order relating to inter-local cadre transfers shall be strictly implemented and such trans¬fers shall be effected only under exceptional cir¬cumstances in
public interest.
(7) Action will be initiated in the concerned depart-ments in cases brought to their notice regarding bogus registrations in Employment Exchanges.
(8) On receipt of complaints, if any, made by the TNGOs Union relating to irregular allotments of candidates particularly to Zones V and VI in the category of Village Assistants the concerned department shall take up the matter with the A.P. Public Service Commission and take such measures as may be necessary to rectify the irregular allotments made if any.
(9) The possibility of allotting persons from within the same zone/multi-zone against non-local vacancy in a particular local cadre will be exam¬ined in consultation with the APPSC.
(10) The T.N.G.Os Union will furnish to Government the service/ categories where for want of trained personnel, non-local candidates are being appointed in zones V and VI so that Government can provide training facilities in respect of such services/categories with a view to providing ade-quate opportunities for recruitment and appoint-ment of local candidates in zones V and VI.
(11) The Departments of Secretariat shall complete the review of appointments/promotions made under the Presidential Order as required under Pera 13 of the said order, by 30-06-1986.
(12) (a) Immediate action will be taken to finalise the Common Gradation List in respect of Assistant Engineers (Presently Dy.. E.Es) as on 01-11-1956, following the prescribed procedure under the S.R. Act. 1956.
(b) In respect of former Junior Engineers (Presently Asst.E.Es) the common gradation list published by the Government was quashed by the A.P. Administrative Tribunal and the Government had gone in appeal to the Supreme Court. Effective measures will be taken for the disposal of the matter before the Supreme Court,, expeditiously.
(13) The matter relating to allotment of 7 non-local personnel in the cadre of Inspector of Local
Fund Audit belonging to Zones I to IV, allotted to Zones-V and VI against their options, will be examined by the Department concerned keep¬ing in view of the provisions of the Presidential Order.
(14) The question of repatriation of 13 Deputy Executive Engineers of the Public Health Department working in the city of Hyderabad to Zones I to IV will be considered by the Department concerned keeping in view the pro-visions of the Presidential Order.

6. The Departments of Secretariat who are con¬cerned with the terms shall take immediate necessary steps to implement the orders in consultation with Law/General Administra tion Department, if necessary, about the legal impli-cations/interpretation of the provisions of the Presidential Order.
Around 400 persons lost their lives in the agita¬tion for separate statehood for Telangana region, the like of which was not witnessed in recent times. Agitators barricaded the roads and trained children in pelting stones at vehicles of public transport. It was a testing time for the police to catch these urchines. Associations to carry on the agitation were formed in every school and college. Telecommunication facilities were destroyed and government properties were set on fire. As the agi¬tation took the form of looting and arson on 3rd and 4th June, 1969 and the situation went out of control, the government had to deploy army to control the situation. All the universities in Telangana region including the Osmania University were closed down for nine months due to the agitation. The candidates of Telangana Praja Samithi (TPS) who contested the bye elections of Siddhipet and Khairatabad constituencies, won the seats with large majority.

Psychological causes for differences

1. Telangana employees, accustomed to the lethar¬gic nawabi culture, worked leisurely. Andhra employees who inherited the British efficiency and punctuality completed their work fast. This created differences among the employees.
2. Hindus and Muslims among the Telangana employees gave importance to etiquette which the Andhra employees gave least importance to.
3. Andhras who bought land from the Telangana farmers at Rs.300/-to Rs.500/- per acre, harvest¬ed paddy worth Rs.1000/- per acre. Moreover, the small farmer who sold his land, had to work as farm labour in his own land. When the farm¬ers resorted to distress sale of their land and the Andhra buyers exploited the situation, the Provincial Council which was expected to be a watch dog, turned a Nelson’s eye.
4. The projects like Pochampadu which were life breath for Telangana region were neglected. For example, the said project was to be built at a cost of Rs.121 crores according to the estimates of the erstwhile Hyderabad government and 24 lakh acres of land was to be irrigated. But due to financial constraints only five lakh acres were irrigated.
5. When Hyderabad engineers designed Nagatjuna Sagar project, Telangana was wronged. According to the design, the water of the right canal of the project was to irrigate the lands in Guntur and other parts and the water of the left canal was to irrigate the Telangana regions of Nalgonda, Khammam and Warangal in addition to some lands in Krishna and Godavari regions. The water of the project was to flow to Nandigama from the 19th distributo- ry canal. But – even before the 17th, 18th and 19th distributory canals were dug, contrary to norms, water was diverted to Nandigama from the 16th distributory canal, which was called derisively as K.L. plan.

Justice Wanchoo Committee

A committee under Justice Wanchoo was appointed to provide guidelines for constitutional guarantees for mulkis. The attorney general Niren Dey and former attorney general M.C. Setelvad were the other members of the committee.
The Committee opined that since any person has the right to work in any part of the country according to his choice, constitutional guarantee should not be provided to mulki rules. If constitution was amended for this purpose, then people of any specific region may demand as a right jobs in their own locality, the Committee warned. Hence the Parliament should not have the right to amend the Constitution for this purpose, the Committee suggested.
If the government wanted to protect the interests of the people of certain regions in employment and educational opportunities, the government may entrust such responsibility to local appointing authorities, the Committee opined. Some categories of jobs may be exempted from the Public Service Commission for this purpose.

In the background of the Wanchoo Committee on Mulkis, the Five Point Formula and the Six Point Formula were floated to protect the unity and integrity of Andhra Pradesh. The Five Point Formula was advanced by Indira Gandhi to cool the tempers of those who fought for separate Andhra state..

The Five Point Formula

1. Eligibility of residence through Mulki rules apply to non-gezetted officers, staff of fourth class, Tahsildar, assistant surgeon and junior engineer categories in Telangana. The mulki rule applies to the second post in every three posts in the offices of the heads of departments in secretariat and in common department offices.
2. These guarantees will be in effect in the Telangana region till 1980 and in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secenderabad till 1987.
3. Services regarding promotions will be region- alised upto first or second grade.
4. The facilities of technical education which were available right now, will be developed. Eligibility of residence will not apply to addi¬tional facilities in this.
5. Joint police force will be created in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secenderabad.
The salient feature of this formula is its appli-cation to the rank of assistant civil surgeons and junior engineers.
Though it is an uncompromising formula, it is not a permanent solution. Hence the people of Rayalaseema and Andhra rejected this formula. The agitation for separate Andhra state intensified.