While the government employees still remain undecided on shifting themselves to the temporary capital by June, the state government on Monday released Rs 500 crore for the construction Raj Bhavan, Assembly and other important structures in the Amaravati capital region.
Orders for the release of the amount have been issued on Monday. Meanwhile, Municipal minister P Narayana held a meeting with the leaders of various employees associations in his bid to prevail upon them to move to Amaravati by June, 2016. The government, which fast tracked the construction of temporary government complex ( Secretariat) at Velagapudi village, has set June 15 as the deadline for the functioning of the government from Amaravati. But, as many crucial issues, such as housing and the local status of the employees, have not been settled yet, the employees are not able to give commitment to the government on their permanent migration to new capital.
The demands of employees:
- 30 per cent HRA
- 5-day week
- Special shifting allowance
- Announcement of Rent Policy
- Decision on Local status
According to Minister Narayana, the government is ready to give the employees an option to migrate to the new capital in three batches. In the first round about 4,000 employees would be shifted by June 15 so as to inaugurate the government from capital region. Similarly, in the next round, government wants relocation of 3000 employees by the end of July and third instalment, in August, another 3000 employees will join them. But, in today meeting, the minister could not extract any commitment from the employees. The employees wanted the government to address their issues first . The minister and the representatives of employees have decided to meet next Monday again.
Chief secretary SP Tucker, senior IAS officer KS Jawahar Reddy, CRDA commissioner Srikanth and representatives from L&T and Shapoorjji and Pallonji were also present in the meeting. These companies assured the employees that the Secretariat would be ready by June 15, 2016.
Meanwhile, Narayana exuded confidence that the temporary secretariat complex would be ready by June 16, 2016. He said the four-month time available for the construction was sufficient and the government would debunk the theories of the opposition the temporary would not be completed by June 15.
