Jagan govt committed to 3-Capitals plan: Sajjala

Vijayawada: State government adviser on public affairs, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, has said the Jagan-led government will not flinch from its policy of decentralized development. He re-affirmed on Wednesday that Visakhapatnam will be the administrative capital while the legislature would be in Amaravati and Kurnool will be the judicial capital.

Addressing the media here, Reddy said, “We are committed to the cause of decentralisation of governance. The opposition parties and their media are spreading falsehood and confusing the people about decentralization.”

“The state administration was centralized at one place in the united AP state. Even after partition, during Chandrababu's administration, all legislative, judicial and administrative capitals were put in one place, at Amaravati. When Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power, he focused on the aspirations of the people of all regions.”

“We recognise that decentralisation is necessary for the state’s overall growth in accordance with the changing times. We are committed to this cause. As part of decentralization of administration, we have brought a bill to put the three main arms of the establishment in three regions. It is now under the jurisdiction of the court. We are voicing our arguments,” he said.

Ramakrishna Reddy claimed that finance minister Buggana Rajendranath had, a day ago, explained properly about decentralization but the opposition parties and their media “distorted his words” to create confusion among the people.

He clarified that as part of decentralization of administration, the cabinet, secretariat and CMO would function from Visakhapatnam. The Assembly will hold its sessions in Amaravati and the High Court and the Judicial Complex will come up in Kurnool.”

He said Chandrababu made a big mistake by saying Amaravati was the only capital. “He did not listen to the Sivaramakrishnan committee's advice that all development should not be concentrated in one place.”

The adviser recalled that the committee clearly stated that lessons should be learnt from the case of the old AP state having a single capital in Hyderabad. “The Sivaramakrishnan committee said the capital should not be in Amaravati, which is a major crop-growing area.”