Hyderabad: After the Secretariat is shifted from Hyderabad to the Amaravati capital region, IAS officers wants special trains to be run between Vijayawada and Hyderabad twice a week.
IAS officers told AP Chief Secretary S.P. Tucker that they will work Monday to Friday in the capital region and spend Saturdays and Sundays with their families. For this, they wanted a special train to be run every Friday from Vijayawada to Hyderabad and every Monday from Hyderabad to Vijayawada.
The IAS officers told Mr Tucker that they could start from Vijayawada at 4 pm on Fridays and start from Hyderabad at 6 am every Monday. They said if Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wanted any review meetings with the secretaries or departments, these could be held on any day of the week from Monday to Friday.
The employees have also supported this proposal. Meanwhile, Mr Naidu made it clear to the IAS officers and employees that the government will pay only one House Rent Allowance (HRA). The state government has agreed to pay 30 per cent HRA at Amaravati capital region.
The state government also agree to allow employees to continue utilising their government quarters at Hyderabad where their families could stay. Meanwhile, some secretaries are finding it difficult to locate the Head of the Departments (HoDs) related to their departments.
Earlier, the state government had said that the HoDs should relocate their offices in Amaravati region on their own. Following this, some of the HoDs identified buildings in Amaravati capital region and also drew up agreements.
Incidentally, the state government has decided to construct two more floors in the temporary Secretariat in Velagapudi to locate HoDs.
General Administration Department Special Chief Secretary Lingaraju Panigrahi has been asking secretaries the extent of area they want to relocate their departments. This led to some secretaries asking Mr Panigrahi whether they should go ahead with the agreements with private building owners or not.
