AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s marathon meets tire officers

Officials say Mr Naidu holds reviews daily for hours on the same subjects waiver of farm loans, Smart Villages and Swachh Bharat. In addition to the prolonged meetings, the IAS officers end up spending a lot of time waiting for their turn at the CMO.

Mr Naidu’s schedule includes a review meeting from 11 am to 12 noon and a second one between 12 noon and 1 pm. Officers reach the CMO by 10.45 am, but the first meeting starts only by 11.30 am.

For the second review meeting, officers reach the CMO at 11.45 am but find that the first meeting is still going on; it ends by 12.30 pm or 1 pm. Officers for the second meeting have to wait for over an hour.

Several IAS officers were unhappy with the prolonged meetings, saying they were not getting time to concentrate on their departments. “If there is any development and we take any decision, the CM can hold a meeting.

But there is no use of conducting reviews every day,” said one IAS officer.

“If Mr Naidu is in the Secretariat, he holds meetings from morning to late in the evening. Sometimes officers do not get the time to have lunch. If the review meetings are held every day it will not be treated seriously,” said a officer.

The meetings have become a joke. Recently, the CM held a review for more than six hours. After the meeting, an IAS officer commented, “We are shown two shows on one ticket.”

Another officer said that if the CM holds a marathon review meeting on Sivaratri, it will help them to earn some blessings. Officers said that if they are freed from the marathon review, they can show results in their departments. One officer said, “If we spend most of the time in CMO, how will the CM assess our performance?”

Officers said the CM shout set targets for each department and review the progress once a week. That way they will get the time to focus on their work.

Senior officers recalled that Mr Naidu during his previous tenure had also held prolonged reviews.