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Andhra Pradesh government keeps tryst with destiny
It seems like Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has succeeded in his mission to erase the tag as `a government in exile’ that his regime carried all these days. What’s more, he appears to have won over the Hyderabad-based government employees with a slew of freebies in lieu of shifting to the new Secretariat.
The people from the Successor State are poised to have governance delivered right at their doorstep more than 30 months since the undivided Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated. In a good augury, the interim Secretariat at Velagapudi in Amaravati is scheduled to become functional from Monday.
It seems like Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has succeeded in his mission to erase the tag as `a government in exile’ that his regime carried all these days. What’s more, he appears to have won over the Hyderabad-based government employees with a slew of freebies in lieu of shifting to the new Secretariat.
In keeping with the public sentiments, Naidu moved to Vijayawada as early as November to run the administration from the new capital despite the absence of a capital.When the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) was not yet ready on the premises of the office of Irrigation Department, he turned his bullet-proof bus into his office-cum-residence.
Even as the AP State Reorganization Act, 2014 allows the Successor State to use Hyderabad as a common capital, Naidu is keen to take the administration nearer to the masses by having a new capital in Amaravati. As part of the endeavour, he stayed put in Vijayawada, oversaw land mobilisation for the new capital, roped in construction giants and planners from Singapore and built a temporary capital at Velagapudi to eventually let the capital project take-off, sooner than later.
While taking the capital project forward on the one hand, he kept trying to take the babus, who developed a special admiration for Hyderabad, on board. Quite expectedly, he had to reckon with initial opposition, resistance, dithering and inhibitions from the employees.
The pretexts were one too many-local status for children and accommodation for their families. Naidu’s alliance with the NDA government at the Centre came in handy for getting the President’s assent for the nativity status before the start of the current academic year.
The State Government has promised to build 5,000 houses for employees in the first phase of the capital project. Besides, a five-day working week and 30 per cent house rent allowance have been offered for the employees shifting to Amaravati.
Even as he was doling out such ‘incentives’, Naidu managed to influence the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to introduce an inter-city express train exclusively for employees to shuttle between Hyderabad and Amaravati as a quid pro quo for the Rajya Sabha seat extended to the latter from the State quota.
The mood among the IAS officers was no different as they preferred to shuttle so that their families remained in Hyderabad. The reason being that Amaravati or even Vijayawada failed to meet their requirements like a multitude of recreation, entertainment and shopping options. In Hyderabad they are spoilt for choices.
The delay in building the interim Secretariat hampered Naidu’s plans caused by the failure of the contracting firms in meeting the deadline and the hurdles put up by the opposition in land mobilisation for the capital. As a result, his government heavily depended on e-filing to enable origination of files from the CMO in Vijayawada and their processing in Hyderabad.
Although, it helped the government overcome all the physical barriers and meet administrative requirements to a large extent, there have been complaints of delay in issue of certifications that were mandated to get benefits under centrally-sponsored schemes and issue of GOs in view of the logistic problems involved in location of the CMO at one place and the Secretariat at a distant place.
The Chief Minister formally inaugurated the temporary Secretariat. Though, incomplete for all practical purposes, some ministers got into their chambers at the new place only as a token of occupation but were reluctant to operate from the new place.
It is only Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu, who set the mood for the government, by holding review meetings at Velagapudi quite often.To quote advisor to government Parakala Prabhakar, the TDP government will script a new chapter in the history of the bifurcated State once the new Secretariat starts functioning a day after Gandhi Jayanti.
By:G Nagaraja
