Vizag to be transit halt for Andhra CM

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has constituted a committee of officials to identify suitable transit accommodation in Visakhapatnam, including a camp office for the Chief Minister and accommodation for senior functionaries.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will be visiting Visakhapatnam on a regular basis to hold review meetings on the development of north coastal Andhra Pradesh, said a state government order issued late Wednesday.

The order issued Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy indicate that Visakhapatnam will be a transit halt even for the ministers and officials.

The committee comprising Special Chief Secretary (MA & UD Department), Special Chief Secretary (Finance Department) and Secretary (Services & HRM), General Administration Department, will identify suitable transit accommodations for the offices and submit a report to the General Administration Department.

However, the government did not specify any time for submission of the report. During a cabinet meeting held last month, the Chief Minister had announced that the state administration would shift to Visakhapatnam on Dusshera. He had instructed officials to constitute a committee for the purpose.

However, the order mentions that Visakhapatnam will be a transit halt for the chief minister, ministers and officials.

It was immediately not clear if the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government had dropped the plans to shift the administrative capital to Visakhapatnam.

“The Chief Minister and the Ministers may visit the north coastal districts for review and monitoring the welfare and development activities being implemented in the region with senior officers and the district administrations so that decisions taken are communicated to field-level functionaries quickly. This necessitates setting up of a camp office for the Chief Minister and accommodation for the supporting senior functionaries,” reads the government order.

It explained that the north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram-Manyam, Visakhapatnam, Alluri Sitharama Raju and Anakapalli continue to exhibit low socio-economic development indicators in terms of health, education, irrigation, intensity, connectivity, among others.

The region is home to a considerable tribal and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) population in the state.

Four of five districts in the region have been identified as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Further, some districts are also covered by the Backward Region Grant Fund. Two of the three aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog are in the Uttarandhra region.

Addressing the Global Investors Summit in Visakhapatnam in March, Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced that Visakhapatnam will be the executive capital of the state in the days to come.

He said that he would also be shortly moving over to Visakhapatnam.

On December 17, 2019 that Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced in the state Assembly that three state capitals will be developed reversing the decision of the previous TDP government to develop Amaravati as the state capital.

The YSRCP government mooted Visakhapatnam as administrative capital, Kurnool as judicial capital and Amaravati as legislative capital.

However, the protest by farmers of Amaravati over shifting of the capital and the High Court order directing the government to develop Amaravati as the state capital had delayed the process.

On March 3, 2022, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had directed the state government to develop Amaravati as the state capital in six months.

However, the state government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.

In November last year, the Supreme Court stayed the High Court order saying the court cannot act like a town planner or an engineer.

The case relating to three capitals is scheduled to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court in December and the YSRCP government may wait for the court order before taking further steps for shifting the administrative capital.