Hyderabad, August 13: The Union Home Ministry on Friday repealed the Clause 14 (F) of 1975 Presidential Order, which had made Hyderabad a “free zone” for employment, a release from the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s office said here on Friday.
The clause had become highly contentious, and Telangana leaders long wanted it deleted.
Telangana leaders of ruling Congress, main opposition TDP, and other parties welcomed the repeal, as it would give more opportunities to youth from the region.
“This decision has been taken keeping in view the sentiments of Telangana people. We thank Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on behalf of Telangana people for getting Clause 14 (F) repealed,” Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Minister Basavaraju Saraiah told reporters here.
He also appealed to the candidates appearing for police sub-inspector recruitment examination tomorrow to write it without any worries.
Students and Telangana leaders of all parties had demanded postponement of the exam until the repeal of Clause 14 (F). Their contention was that Hyderabad should be a part of other Telangana districts and not remain a free zone for employment.
Union Home Ministry today issued a notification saying that President had given approval for deleting Clause 14 (F) of the Presidential Order, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office said here.
Acting on a resolution passed by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly seeking deletion of the clause, and request made by the Chief Minister, the Union Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs had recommended to the President that Clause 14 (F) be deleted, it said.
The Chief Minister’s office claimed that Reddy not only wrote letters to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, but also took up the issue with the Prime Minister.
Congress MP from Karimnagar, Ponnam Prabhakar, welcomed the repeal, but also sought postponement of tomorrow’s exam in Zone VI of Telangana districts, saying that Telangana students could not have prepared well due to the agitations.
Asked if the Telangana Congress MPs and state ministers would start attending to the official duties, as a major demand had been conceded, Prabhakar said it was a different issue, and all these matters would be discussed in the August 14 meeting of Telangana Congress leaders.
Hailing the deletion of 14 (F), Telangana TDP leaders also sought postponement of the exam, to enable Telangana candidates to prepare better.
State Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy has however said the exam would be held tomorrow as per the schedule.
Describing the repeal of Clause 14 (F) as a victory of Telangana people, particularly students and employees, the Telangana political Joint Action Committee (JAC) Convener M Kodandaram too demanded postponement of the exam by a month.
He also demanded that the whole Clause 14 be deleted from the 1975 Presidential Order, in the interest of local reservation.