Relocation of Andhra Pradesh govt departments to Amaravati region begins

Two years after the state bifurcation, the administration of Andhra Pradesh government, barring the Secretariat, is slowly moving base to the new capital region of Amaravati.

Relocation of government departments in the Secretariat will be done between June 29 and July 21 as the office space at the AP Government Transitional Headquarters at Velagapudi village is still being readied.

For good measure, most of the offices of Heads of Departments (HoDs) have opened up in the capital region -- not exactly the Capital city -- as they are temporarily located in different places depending on availability of space.

Incidentally, the Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu had moved to Vijayawada into a newly-built plush office building in June last year itself. All other administrative machinery remained in Hyderabad, the joint capital of AP and Telangana.

The Chief Minister initially set June 15 as the deadline for all government offices to relocate to the capital region but subsequently extended the date by 12 days as construction of the transitional headquarters got delayed due to various reasons.

While the relocation period of shifting of government departments in the Secretariat has been revised with a staggered schedule, the HoDs were asked to shift by June 27. The entire set up now remains scattered and will remain so at least for the next couple of years till the administrative city in the core capital area is developed.

For example, the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration's office is located on the Inner Ring Road at Guntur; the Commissioner of Technical Education's office has been opened at Prasadampadu on the eastern side of Vijayawada; the Commissioner of Industries office is at Gollapudi on the western side; the Social Welfare Commissioner's office is located at Payakapuram on the northern side.

Other HoDs have rented buildings at places like Yanamalakuduru, Penamaluru, Ibrahimpatnam, Suryaraopet, Prasadampadu in and outside Vijayawada and also in and outside Guntur, 35 km away.
For over two decades, the APSRTC Bus Station complex in Vijayawada was left only partially developed as funds were diverted for construction of a bus station in Hyderabad (when the state was united).

It has, in a way, come as a blessing in disguise as a lot of space has become readily available for taking up modifications and also creating new office space.

While the APSRTC state headquarters has been located in the renovated RTC Bhavan, the Transport Commissioner, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Information and Public Relations Department are also leasing space in the complex for their offices.

"As far as the Transitional Headquarters is concerned, the five blocks will be ready between June 29 and July 15. We have accordingly decided to relocate the Secretariat departments from Hyderabad to Velagapudi, also taking into consideration the auspicious dates," Minister for Municipal Administration P Narayana, who has been overseeing the capital region's development, told PTI.

Block-1 in the Transitional Headquarters would house the offices of Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and the General Administration Department.

"This block will be ready by July 21 and the Chief Minister will function from here," Narayana said, inspecting the construction activity at the site.

Panchayat Raj, Housing, Medical and Health and Labour would be the departments that would move in first into the so-called 'temporary Secretariat' on June 29.

"They will be housed on the ground floor in Block-5," Narayana said.

While some more departments would move on July 6, some others would follow suit on July 15 and 21.

"We are ensuring all facilities for the officers and the staff in these buildings," the minister added.

The Legislature building, which would be the Block-6 in the complex coming up on 45 acres of land, would be ready by August end only. Only the foundation work has just been completed for this block.