Hyderabad GPO status will remain unchanged after the postal department dropped a proposal to downgrade the city’s General Post Office from Group A to Group B, Telangana Chief Postmaster General D.S.V.R. Murthy told Deccan Chronicle. The decision has brought relief to postal unions and employees who opposed the proposed change.
“As of now there is no proposal of downgrading the GPO, Hyderabad,” Murthy said. The proposal had become public on September 26, when AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi wrote to the Union ministry of communications seeking its withdrawal.
The proposed change was linked to a plan to upgrade the Sangareddy postal division into a senior postal division. According to Murthy, the department had initially considered placing the time-scale officer of Hyderabad GPO in Sangareddy without making new appointments. Postal unions subsequently submitted representations against the move through MP Raghunandan.
The decision affects the administrative structure of one of Telangana’s most prominent postal institutions. Unions said the proposal’s withdrawal was good news for around 150 clerical staff, 80 postmen and nearly 30 Class IV employees working at the Hyderabad GPO. “We are thankful to the department for dropping the proposal,” union representatives said.
The Hyderabad Philatelic and Hobbies Society also welcomed the decision. Its secretary, Sagi Srinivas Raju, said the continuation of the existing status was significant for the institution, which has operated as part of the city’s public-service infrastructure for decades.
The GPO building was inaugurated on August 20, 1966, by Satyanarayan Sinha, then minister for communications and parliamentary affairs. It completed its golden jubilee in 2016. On August 8, 1985, the building was modernised as a General Post Office and dedicated to the public by N.T. Rama Rao, who was then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.
The Hyderabad decision comes against the backdrop of a large postal network across Telangana. Telangana Circle has 36 head post offices, 759 sub-post offices and 5,424 branch post offices, supported by 6,514 departmental employees and 10,623 Gramin Dak Sevaks, according to recent statistics cited in the report.
The department has also issued 1,86,202 appointment offers through 17 Rozgar Mela tranches, including 1,51,348 offers to Gramin Dak Sevaks. In Telangana Circle, 1,272 candidates received offers, of whom 1,123 were appointed as GDS personnel.
With the downgrade proposal withdrawn, Hyderabad GPO will continue under its existing Group A status. The postal department’s statement, as reported by Deccan Chronicle, does not indicate any separate timeline for changes to the Sangareddy division or whether an alternative staffing arrangement will be considered.
