Vizag shift put off again

Visakhapatnam: Shifting of Chief Minister’s camp office to Visakhapatnam has once again been postponed. Earlier, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that he would start functioning from the port city from Dasara and the government had issued three GOs to this effect. Even works of phase-1 of the camp office building were put on fast track.

But inaugurating the Infosys Development Centre at IT Hills in Visakhapatnam, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that he wanted to shift to the port city by the end of October but the infrastructure of his camp office was not ready.

He said his officials who scouted for alternative accommodation told him that it would require huge space which was not possible at this point of time. They told him that it would take more time and hence he would be shifting to Visakhapatnam by December.

Meanwhile, some officials on the condition of anonymity said that apart from incomplete infrastructure arrangements, security aspects also need to be examined before deciding on the date for shifting.

Political circles, however, say that there were other reasons too for this decision. They feel that the issue of executive capital was still in the court. Secondly, since the party was in poll mode and Jagan Mohan Reddy was planning to start a two-month long bus yatra from October 25, it was perhaps decided that it would be better to postpone the decision to shift to Visakhapatnam.

Another reason could be that since the report of the three-member committee of officials which includes Special Chief Secretary to Government (Municipal Administration and Urban Development), Special

Chief Secretary (Finance) and Secretary to Government (Services and Human Resources) to study the feasibility of shifting to Visakhapatnam is yet to be submitted, it was thought that it would be better to wait for some more time.