Govt shouldn’t blink at Endowments Dept during official transfers

Hyderabad: Withthe state government lifting the ban on employee transfers, speculations are rife that some “big transfers” are in the offing in the Endowments Department, in which there are a few officials who have been sticking to the headquarters i.e. the city for the last 20 years in the guise of holding in-charge positions.

No doubt, the Endowments Department plays an advisory role to government on all religious matters and concentrates on the administration and governance of all the public charitable institutions and endowments, whether registered or not. Does this ‘religious’ tag invest the department with such an aura that its heads of departments can at will stay put where they are and prevent the entry of other competent officials from the districts? This strange question, reflecting the present state of affairs, will be addressed in the days ahead.

For context, the Telangana government has temporarily lifted the ban on employee transfers as of April 2026, allowing a one-month window for relocations. Mandatory transfers apply to those with over four years in one spot, excluding those retiring before May 31, 2027, with a 40% cap on transfers per cadre.

State government official transfers are primarily governed by administrative exigency and public interest, often limiting tenure to 2–4 years per station to prevent stagnation. Key norms include mandatory transfers for long-serving staff, optional transfers for specific grounds (spouse, medical, disability, widow), and counselling for transparency.

According to sources, the current situation is rather strange in the Endowments Department as some of its officials have managed to stick to the headquarters in the state capital for almost two decades, irrespective of the governments in reign. It is only now that the demand for transferring long-standing officials has gained traction in the department. According to sources, one top official in the rank of deputy commissioner has been functioning in the head office since 2005. Sources said that the official has been lucky; for, he gets back into the head office within months of his transfer, if it does happen.

. Sources also said that officials in the wing, under the ruse of holding in-charge posts, manage to get back to the head office.

According to sources,one official in the rank of additional commissioner has clung to the head office for the last 15 years. One additional commissioner, who held a vigilance post in the past, has also been working in the headquarters for almost one and half decades. Some of the officials got promotions; yet, instead of moving to other stations, they stuck to the headquarters. Apart from top officials, even executive officers, junior assistants, superintendents, and others manage to stick to either the head office or in the temples in which they are working. Sources said that one official who verifies the jewellery in the temple has been working in the headquarters for 20 years. The official is said to be a native of Andhra.

There are some officials like an Executive Officer in the cadre of grade one who also does not want to leave the headquarters. Even if they are transferred to places like Mahabubnagar, they stay in Hyderabad and do not shift to their working place. According to rules, the officer should not leave the station to which he is moved.

Now that the time is ripe, some of the officials who have been working in the districts for long want the government to at least now revamp the department and provide a chance to them to work in the head office. These officials want the government to take up transfers on the lines of the ones in the Medical and Health Dept and the Education Department. The government provides the option of spouse transfers, but these top babus do not want to leave the city. Neither do they allow officials from other districts to work here, said one official from the Nizamabad district.