Staff worry over the state plans to shift it to capital city of Vijayawada
Employees of the regional printing press located in Kurnool are worried over the government's plans to shift it entirely to the capital city of Vijayawada
kurnool: Employees of the regional printing press located in Kurnool, which served all the government departments in united Andhra Pradesh, are worried over the government’s plans to shift it entirely to the capital city of Vijayawada. Beesanna, AITUC President and an employee of the press, said, “We want the press to remain in Kurnool and be made the head office. Before the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh, the head office was in Hyderabad. Now that the state has been bifurcated, Kurnool press should be developed and made the head office.”
Beesanna also pointed out that Vijayawada press is very small and that the employees are temporary. “We have six acres of land in Kurnool, the press was built in 1954 by the R&B department. We have all it takes to make this the head office. We also desire that the Commissioner be stationed in Kurnool. Every year funds got allocated but they were returned due to lack of concrete planning and other hindrances like united Andhra Pradesh struggle.”
Veeresh Babu, Deputy Director (in-charge) of the Press allayed fears of the employees when contacted. “I did not get any proposal from the government for the press to be shifted. Recently we installed two new machines. All the government letter heads are being printed right here. The Additional DG of Fire Service and I will be filing a report to the government about the press on October 10.”
Government regional press in Kurnool has a chequered past. It met the printing needs of numerous government departments and its printing material included revenue documents, survey reports, passbooks, birth and death certificates, patient case sheets for hospitals, election ballot papers, gazette, tenth class question papers and answer sheets, election symbols, etcetera.
The press has the capacity to print lakhs of copies in minutes, but operates below capacity. At present, it wears a dilapidated look. Former Chief Minister Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy laid the foundation for the press to be developed and expanded, but it never took off. Former minister TG Venkatesh sanctioned '2 crores for its development, but the plan never materialised.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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