Vijayawada: With the establishment of the temporary secretariat being beset by hurdles, shifting the employees may be postponed to next year.
The government had planned to run the state administration from the temporary secretariat, proposed to be constructed by July at Velagapudi in the Amaravati capital region of Guntur district. But the tender process was halted midway and the state government is planning to recall the tenders. This is adding to the delays currently, but the other factors were that there was great variation in the price points put forward by the government and contractors. Also, there are cases pending before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding the construction work, which has further impeded progress.
The time frame of four months that the government set for completion of the temporary secretariat is also quite far removed from ground realities. A senior official from the state government said that shifting machinery and establishment of manpower took time: four months was a deadline that was therefore impossible to meet.
The beginning of a new school academic year, rather than the middle of one, is a suitable time for employees to move from Hyderabad to Vijayawada, with employees’ associations having stated their case to the state government. They had earlier requested that they be shifted in March-April when the academic year ends and just prior to the beginning of the admission process for the new year. This has been one of the main demands of employees to ensure that their children’s education is not hindered in any way by the move.
Establishing office space has been no mean task either, the state government having earlier planned to set up offices in private engineering colleges and other private buildings around the city, and later struck upon the idea of a temporary secretariat at Velagapudi village.
