Hyderabad: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Hyderabad, has dismissed the petition filed by senior IAS officer A. Vani Prasad seeking a direction to allocate her to the Telangana cadre.
The 1995 batch officer, who has only two years left before retirement, had challenged the recent decision by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Union government, which allotted her to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. This allocation was part of the ongoing process to distribute All India Service officers following the bifurcation of the unified state of Andhra Pradesh into two separate states — Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
In her petition, Prasad argued that she had spent her childhood in Hyderabad and had completed her education in the city, while her birthplace is Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. Despite her personal connection to Telangana, the Bench emphasized that the adjustment of officers is made in the public interest, and the officer must abide by the allocation order as directed by the DoPT.
The ruling reaffirms the administrative approach that seeks to balance the allocation of officers for the efficient governance of both states, in line with the division of resources and personnel post the formation of Telangana.
