Vijayawada: The government has deliberately avoided the Opposition and experts also in finalising the issues related to compensation, Swiss Challenge and even on finalising the road map of inner and outer ring roads.
The Opposition was not taken into confidence even in the issue related to floodplain areas of River Krishna. Opposition leaders are anticipating a change in the mindset of the government at least in the New Year, while taking major decisions on public issues.
Despite the fact that the YSR Congress, the Congress and Left parties have joined hands to protest against a method chosen by the state government to award contracts to develop Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh’s ambitious new capital city, the government simply ignored the voice of the Opposition. The Swiss Challenge is a bidding process whereby an interested private player first hands in an unsolicited bid for a public project. This bid is then made public and more players are invited to better the original bid. In many cases, the firm that made the original bid outdid its initial bid and ended up bagging the contract.
The Opposition objected to the use of the Swiss Challenge method, saying that the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has chosen this model despite objections raised by the state’s administrators.
As per the state government’s plan, 40 per cent of the core of the proposed capital city-1,691 acres will be developed using the Swiss Challenge process. The development of the remaining 60 per cent of the capital’s core area that includes public utilities like hospitals, educational institutions, shopping malls, entertainment areas, cinema halls and residential quarters, will be done through regular government tenders. Opposition leaders have stated that the Kelkar Panel report endorsed by the Supreme Court has recommended that the Swiss Challenge process should be discouraged. APCC chief Dr N. Raghuveera Reddy accused the CM of bringing in a ‘Singapore culture of casinos and discos’ through infrastructure operated by foreigners.
Chief Minister, in fact, in his words, wants to meet the challenges of finance, technology and transparency, and that it would bring multi-fold development in Amaravati by 2024 through Swiss Challenge model. Despite the severe protests from opposition, the government didn’t care about its plans. Irony is that, the CRDA also is not ready to divulge the details approved, at least.
