Hyderabad: IAS, IFS officials, engineering heads and other staff of the irrigation department are jittery over the announcement of minister D. Uma Maheswara Rao, who said that he and his staff would start functioning from Vijayawada, the proposed capital of Andhra Pradesh.
The All India Service officials, chief engineers and HODs in the irrigation department are citing reasons that the education of their kids and lack of facilities in Vijayawada on all fronts would be detrimental for moving out.
Softening his stand following the resistance of the staff, minister Mr Uma Maheswara Rao told this newspaper, “Water management and water conservation are two key affairs of the state government of AP due to the prevailing circumstances post bifurcation. We need to operate from the field. The shifting of the department will be done slowly based on convenience. We will initially start tribunal activities from Vijayawada. Chief engineers and superintendent engineers shall be closely monitoring the projects and canals. We need to show 1.5 lakh sq. ft built up area to house the entire staff,”
The Irrigation department of AP has six All India Service officials, four deputy secretaries, two engineering in chiefs - one each for Administration and Technical - and at least eight chief engineers as HODs of various departments, several superintendent engineer-ranked officials and around 3000 staff at all levels.
An IFS official working on deputation in the irrigation department said, “The Secretariat staff can’t be shifted immediately. But engineering staff numbering around 200 may be shifted if the office has to function from Vijayawada.”
The IFS official added, “The All India Service officials will be affected as the minister said that he would come to Hyderabad only for Assembly and Cabinet meetings. The big question is how the files will be processed. The staff have been expressing concerns that till the capital is shifted, they should not be moved out. They are citing education issues and their families living here. Accommodation will be the biggest problem.”
Top officials of the department also say that there was no official order issued on shifting. Principal secretary (irrigation) Adityanath Das said, “We have no official order on shifting to Vijayawada so far. The secretariat of the department will remain here.”
