Get To Amaravathi Now, Naidu Tells Govt Employees

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today reiterated that all government employees of the State needed to shift to Amaravathi by the end of the month.

He said that the State had suffered severe losses in the unscientific bifurcation, and that that meant that all of its citizens needed to be prepared for sacrifices to bring it back on track.

"Today, we are at a crucial juncture in the history of Andhra Pradesh. We need to work together with commitment," he said at a teleconference held with 5,600 officials, public representatives and the government machinery.

He pointed out to how his own wife and he were staying in different cities for several months now.

While AP is authorized to use Hyderabad as its capital till 2024, Naidu has been making efforts to shift governance to Amaravathi much earlier, and develop the city. Indeed, a few tens of thousands of government employees moving to the capital city region will spur business there.

However, the employees are quite reluctant due to complete lack of any kind of ecosystem or infrastructure comparable to Hyderabad at Amaravathi.

This has resulted in Naidu needing to mandate relocation, though he's been couching it in plenty of emotion.

Narrating the travails of the State, Naidu said that the residuary State had started with a revenue deficit of Rs 16,000 crores, and that the Centre had released only Rs 2,300 crores so far. The bifurcation of institutions under Schedules 9 and 10 was also yet to be completed, he added.

However, in spite of these hurdles, Andhra Pradesh, in the last two years, had registered a growth rate of more than 3% above the national level, he said, reflecting the performance of his government.

To sustain this, the Chief Minister said that all sections needed to work with renewed vigour and make sacrifices. He pointed to the fact that Andhra Pradesh was still backward with low levels of per capita income compared to its neighboring States. The per capita income in Andhra Pradesh is Rs 1,03,000 while it was Rs 1,38,000 in Telangana and Rs 1,40,000 in Karnataka.

He said that it was also the Centre's responsibility to help the residual State till it got on par with its neighbouring States.

The Chief Minister also appealed to the people of the State to participate in the week-long "Nava Nirmana Deeksha" activities and make them a grand success.