Hyderabad: After seeking accommodation, AP government employees are now raising the issue of “real estate” to put the brakes on shifting of offices to the temporary capital in Andhra Pradesh.

There are 18,000 Seemandhra employees working in Hyderabad and nearly 5,000 of them have their own houses in and around Hyderabad. Employees and union leaders say that they had sold their lands in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions to purchase land and construct houses in Hyderabad.

“Now, even if we sell the houses in Hyderabad, the real estate market is not lucrative. We will not get good amounts. Also, the money we get by selling the houses in Hyderabad may not be sufficient to buy a house in and around AP’s capital city as land rates are high there.

It is the duty of the government to clear them before asking employees to shift,” said revenue services association leader and co-chairman of Joint Action Committee of all government employees unions Bopparaju Venkateswarlu.

“There is no clarity from the government’s side to the employees. I am a native of Kurnool. I own a house here in Hyderabad. My son will now go into Class VI in June.

Where shall I admit him? Where will I be shifted to? Will it be to Kurnool, Vijayawada or Guntur? CM N. Chandrababu Naidu should come out with a specific date and facilities including accommodation, schooling and health facilities that will be provided to the employees in the temporary capital,” a woman employee working in the Stamps and Registrations department said.

Chandrasekhar Reddy, deputy secretary general of JAC of Employees, Teachers, and Pensioners in AP, said “Except one brief meeting with the chief secretary, the government has not even consulted us on shifting to temporary capital”.