Naidu moves to new Secretariat

​Amaravati: In an apparent bid to motivate the reluctant employees into the new capital, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday moved into his chambers in the temporary Secretariat at Velagapudi.

He commenced his work by signing the first file relating to sanction of Rs 3,000 cr for waiver of loans obtained by the Self-Help Group (SHG) women from the commercial banks followed by a meeting with a Russian delegation.

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Highlights:

• Signs the first file of waiving of Rs 3,000 cr loan of SHG women and also meets a Russian delegation
• Admits that it will take some more time to deliver governance in full swing from temp Secretariat
• However, a few reluctant staff have termed Velagapudi as ‘Vethalapudi’, land of hardships

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The event went off without the presence of most of the Secretariat employees who were off the duty in view of Moharram. Endowments Minister P Manikyala Rao too embarked on his official business from his chambers at the Secretariat sometime after the CM moved in.

The Secretariat at Velagapudi is failing to pick up the momentum the way it badly needed in spite of sustained efforts by the Chief Minister for a variety of reasons which include the failure on the part of the contracting agencies to finish the structures with interior works,

problems associated with the mindsets of the employees who have been used to enjoy metro life in Hyderabad all these days and the Secretariat’s location completely in a rural setting without any basic facilities like education, health, recreation and entertainment within the reach. So, the employees nicknamed Velagapudi, the place of new secretariat, as `Vethalapudi’, land of hardship in Telugu.

Although, the government fixed October 3 as the deadline for shifting of the employees to Velagapudi, Naidu did a lot of homework by way of appeasing the employees with a slew of freebees and let the Ministers move into the chambers in advance as part of setting the tone for letting the wheels of administration move on from the new capital.

Still, 3-4 departments are due to shift from Hyderabad which include School Education, Panchayat Raj and Home. Addressing a media conference, Naidu admitted that it will take some more time to deliver governance from Velagapudi in full swing.

A ruling party leader sums up the mood of the government employees by quoting a phrase, one step forward and two steps backward. For record, it is nine days since the Secretariat employees moved into the new premises, but the number of days on-duty till October 12 was only five, that too with thin attendance.

A chain of holidays and the government’s offer of a week with five workdays gave them much breather.“We have only three working days in the current week as Dasara and Muharram fell on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I preferred to stay back in Hyderabad for a whole week by availing three days leave”, a lady employee told The Hans India on condition of anonymity.

A section of employees feel that the government should have deferred its shifting plans by the end of current academic year, enabling employees with school going children to begin work at new place without any hassles.

“It is a process of adjustment and employees will settle down soon to let the administration take off in a full swing”, said Secretariat employees association president U Muralikrishna.