AMARAVATI: A 25-year old dream of the group-I officers, Mandal Parishad Development Officers (MPDOs), has come true when the state government stamped its nod to grant next level promotions as divisional development officers (DDOs).
The state government had also agreed to appoint the MPDOs in the posts of assistant directors (AD) and deputy directors (DDs) in other departments on deputation.
Interestingly, the chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had accorded his in principle permission to grant the permissions almost a year ago.
The officers were made to struggle for another 12 months to clear the administrative hurdles including the final go-ahead from the newly appointed Panchayat Raj minister Budi Mutyalanaidu.
Speaking to the media in Amaravati on Thursday, state MPDOs association president Y Bramhaiah said that chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s unstinted support to their request had only helped them get the promotions.
He said that MPDOs have been struggling with service stagnation for the past 25 years since the cadre was incorporated as part of group-I services.
“While all the officers recruited in the other departments progress with the promotions and even become district collectors and SPs, MPDOs are the only cadre that gets retired in the same post,” said Bramhaiah.
He, however, said that the chief minister had taken a bold decision despite the move having financial implications to grant promotions.
He said that about 51 additional posts of DDOs were created to exclusively grant promotions to MPDOs and also granted clearance to give periodical promotions to the ranks of AD, DD and Joint Director (JD).
“The state government had also granted vehicle facility to the MPDOs with specific budget allocation. This is a big achievement in the protection of self-respect and honour of group-I officers,” said association general secretary GV Narayana Reddy.
He said that they could also get the infrastructure support required to attend the video-conference right from their offices.
“As many as 237 officers got the promotions in one-go thanks to the generous decision taken by the chief minister,” said KNV Prasada Rao, state-convenor of the association.
The state association thanked the PR principal secretary GK Dwivedi, commissioner Kona Sasidhar, former minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy for extending fullest support in resolving their grievances.
MPDOs ON CLOUD NINE
*State government’s final green signal for granting promotions to the Mandal Parishad Development Officers (MPDOs)
*The officers working in both Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (PR&RD) will be treated in the same cadre
*About 51 DDO posts were created and allowed nearly 231 to get elevated to the next rank in one-go
*All the eligible officers would be granted AD, DD and JD ranks at regular intervals to facilitate them to work in other departments on deputation
*Video-conference facility was provided in 750 offices including 660 MPDO and 51 DDO offices
*About 149 posts were earmarked for MPDOs for promotion in PR&RD
