While Krishna and Guntur districts are blazing hot with protests against the AP Decentralisation Bill passed in the assembly, preparations to shift the secretariat and department head offices to Visakhapatnam are on full swing. Sources revealed that employees of Education and Health departments, GAD, Home Ministry and Irrigation Departments were already instructed to shift their offices to the new executive capital. News has it that the government selected Rishikonda area for the development of secretariat and other offices. Apart from oppositions and farmers who have been waging war against the ‘three capital’ proposal, there is another section of people who are now left in splits.
Almost 5,000 of temporary and permanent employees who shifted their base from Hyderabad to Vijayawada from October 2016 are now left with no other option but to again shift to Viskhakapatam. But is the staff really ready for this abrupt relocation? The information has it that almost 90% of the employees are upset with Jagan-led government’s decision to shift the administrative to another place. However, the employees chose to remain tightlipped succumbed to the pressure from their authorities. According to the approved proposal, Andhra Pradesh will now have three capitals with Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati a legislative capital and Kurnool will be the judicial capital of the state. While the majority of staff were instructed to make preparations to shift to Visakhapatnam, a few of them ought to shift to Kurnool. “It has been a while that we came out the shock of shifting from Hyderabad and here comes another one. Amidst a number of agitations, nobody is talking about our problems,” said one of the employees.
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2016 was said to be a tough time for the employees while the majority of them left their families in Hyderabad and are travelling as Vijayawada has good connectivity. The then government persuaded the employees by offering them sops including a five-day week and increasing the retirement age from 58 to 60. But pertaining to the new capital proposal, the employees ought to travel 618 Kms to reach their families or shift their families. Sources stated that Jagan government also is ready to offer attractive incentives to the employees like house plots, house loans without interest etc for relocating to Visakhapatnam. Will the staff heed to the government and agree to this relocation?
