Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu made a significant announcement on Sunday that Vijayawada would be the capital of Andhra Pradesh till the construction of Amaravati was constructed and would get facilities commensurate with with capital. He instructed the officials to give face-lift to the city that suits the capital city of any state. The 40.63 km long roads in the city will be repaired at a cost of Rs 96.32 crore. He also instructed the official to beautify the city by relaying the footpaths, setting up road dividers, street lights, enhancing greenery etc. As part of the program, the CM said, a 7.5 km long river-front would be developed by removing the encroachment into a beautiful pathway. Modern sensor driven traffic signal will be set up at all traffic junctions. All parks and community halls will be modernized. The beautification program is entrusted to Blue and Green international organization.
… welcome to Vijayawada
The State government issued orders to establish camp office of the Chief Secretary at Vijayawada.
It is a sign to government’s intention that it is hell bent on making Vijayawada temporary capital as the chief secretary is the head of administration of the state. Government issued orders revealing its mind that the government had decided to quit Hyderabad. This is happening despite the fierce opposition from the employees who are well-settled in Hyderabad.
“Government has decided to work with Vijayawada as State Headquarters, pending final location of the Capital at Amaravati. The Camp Office of the Chief Minister has already been established in Vijayawada. Similarly, it is felt that continued presence of Chief Secretary is needed at Vijayawada for better coordination and decision making process,” the State government stated in its order.
Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao’s camp office will come up at Krishna district collector’s camp office in Vijayawada. Krishna district collector to shift his camp office either will shift base to camp Office located in Bandar Road or to any other appropriate accommodation.
“The government felt that continued presence of Chief Secretary is needed at Vijayawada for better coordination and decision making process,” the GO stated.
“As the e-Office system is already in place, it is felt that the files can be disposed off electronically, wherever officers are functioning from. Therefore the government has decided to establish a regular camp office for the Chief Secretary at Vijayawada till the new capital city Amaravati is made functional,” an official said.
The official headquarters of the Krishna district collector is Machilipatnam and there is a camp office for the collector at Bandar Road in Vijayawada.
In mid 90s the residence of sub collector, Vijayawada was converted into the camp office of collector.
Now as a camp office is needed the Chief Secretary, the camp office of Krishna district collector will become full-fledged Camp Office of Chief Secretary, the government stated.
Meanwhile, the committee headed by Panchayat Raj Department secretary KS Jawahar Reddy constituted to identify locations in and around the capital region where some departments can be temporarily accommodated has submitted its preliminary report to the government.
Sources said the committee feels that about 25 lakh sq ft of office space is needed in and around Vijayawada to shift major departments from Hyderabad to the new capital region. As of now only 7 lakh sq ft of office space has been identified.
* The CM Naidu will make Vijayawada his base for five days in a week.
* Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao to stay for four days.
* General Administration Department has been asked to assess the office space and provide accommodation to the departments.
* All future Cabinet meeting will be held in Viajyawada
* The cabinet meeting scheduled on Aug. 17 will also take place in Vijayawada
Why is Naidu in a Hurry to Move to Vijayawada ?
Why is Naidu in so much a hurry to relocate himself to Vijayawada? Today the cabinet meeting is being held in the city, to show his resolve to shift his base. He announced that he would work for three days every week from the camp office here. He appointed P Krishnamohan, registrar of college of architecture ,as OSD in CMCO in Vijayawada.
Earlier, he again appointed a new committee of officials to identify the department and persuade the employees to shift to temporary capital.
The thought of relocating all heads of the department(HoD) is one year old. In 2014 also he
set up a committee of senior officers to identify the departments to be relocated
to new capital region and seek the opinions of employees. Even after a half dozen meetings, the committee could not identify the departments and found that employees were not inclined to shift to temporary capital. Another important aspect is almost all IAS officer were opposed to this temporary shifting of the capital. Why?
Employees’ reasons:
1. Majority employees have constructed house and they are well settled in Hyderabad. If they were to relocate to Vijayawada they need an accommodation. They have to pay rent. This is an extra burden. Shifting families is not possible now because academic year has already begun.
2. Children of all employees will become non-locals in Vijayawada as they belong to Telangana state. This issue has to be settled.
3. Most important aspect is the allocation of house sites in Hyderabad. Erstwhile AP has allocated house sites to NGOs. Telangana is arguing that they are not eligible for house site as they are going back to their state. the matter is in court. If they were to move, TS argument gains strength , it could easily cancel the allocation. Each plot costs Rs 50 to 60 lakhs.
4. The shifting is likely to separate wife and husband if they are working in government and public sector.
Employees want these issues to be addressed first.
“AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, facilitates us to stay in Hyderabad for a period of 10 years. Then, why should we relocate our offices to the new capital by relinquishing our right here?” asked AP Revenue Services Association president Bopparaju Venkateswarlu .
IAS officers’ reasons
1. They do not express their view in public like NGO leaders. IAS officer also lose a 500 sq yard house site in Hyderabad if there were to choose to work from temporary capital. Who will forego such a huge and expensive land in Hyderabad.
2. Vijayawada does not have a social life comparable to Hyderabad- recreation, hotels, restaurants, malls, theaters, international airport, quality private schools.
3. There are many legal issues involved. Everyday hundreds of officers(IAS and NGO) need to attend courts. Coming from Vijayawada for court cases puts heavy burden on government.
“If we go to the new capital region, our children will be treated as non-locals there. That means, they will be ineligible for government jobs there. So, the zonal system set up as per Article 371(D) should first be scrapped,” a senior IAS officer said.
So, why is it that Naidu wants to relocate his office over night after remaining silent for over 7 months?
The talk is that Telangana government was annoyed by the constant refrain from AP ministers that they would not vacate Hyderabad even a day before the expiry of 10 year time given in AP Reorganization Act. The T-government is worried that if AP capital construction is delayed, there is a possibility of Andhras demanding extension of deadline. Their presence would jeopardize the complete ownership rights of TS over Hyderabad.
So, if sources are to believed, as part of the common understanding between TS and AP brokered by centre, the Telangana would not drag Naidu into cash-for -vote scam and Naidu would reciprocate it by shifting his base from Hyderabad to Vijayawada.
Many senior officers wonder as to how the CM would operate from Vijayawada when the secretariat and departments remain back in Hyderabad. Shifting departments necessitate shifting of about 20,000 employees to Vijayawada. Can government find accommodation to these employees?
Rajahmundry Becomes Temporary Capital of AP
Following the stampede at Kotagummam Pushkar ghat near Rajahmundry on Tuesday, and chief minister Chandrababu Naidu wanting to personally oversee the Pushkara arrangements to avoid the repetition of such mishap, Rajahmundry has become temporary capital of Andhra Pradesh.
As the chief minister Chandrababu Naidu will remain there till July 25, entire administration has moved from Hyderabad to Rajahmundry. Already entire cabinet is camping in the city crisscrossing the city in the name of overseeing the arrangements for devotees at various ghat.
The chief minister believes that the stampede in which about 30 devotees crushed to death due to lack of proper planing and execution, he announced that he would remain in Rajaymundry till closure of the Pushkaralu.
Yesterday he made lightning visits to some pushkar ghat to see the arrangments and to interact with the devotees.
On Thursday morning, he reviewed the progress of Polavaram and Pattiseema projects. Tomorrow he is going to Vijayawada to participate in the Iftar party hosted by Andhra Pradesh government.
Similarly, he asked the Singapore exports to come over to Rajahmundry to present the master plan of the capital city Amaravathi.
Chief secretary IVR Krishna Rao, DGP Venkata Ramudu and other senior officials are operating from Rajahmundry.
So, Naidu is now also planning to hold the cabinet meeting in Rajahmundry.
The previous cabinet meeting was held on July 4 and reviewd the arrangements for Pushkaras. It is said that CM reportedly expressed displeasure over tarday progress of the works in the meeting. It was in this meeting that that endowments minister Manikyal Rao reportedly told chief minister he was totally out of loop as far as the arrangement were concerned.
It is in this backdrop, Naidu once again wants to review the whole situation in the next cabinet meeting.
Of late, Naidu is holding a cabinet meetings once in fortnight. According to sources in the government, the meeting is likely on next Tuesday or Wednesday “The date has not been finalized yet. But, CM is planning to hold the meeting in a couple of days,” sources in the government told Telugu360.com.
