No basic amenities at temporary secretariat in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: It’s a tough time for secretariat employees. The state government may have fixed the deadline for the move for the end of June, but the government has not taken up the establishment of basic amenities yet even though work is being done on a war footing.

The government plans to have nearly 8,000 employees shift from Hyderabad in three phases by end of this year, but no suitable arrangements are available at the temporary secretariat, what with their being accustomed to leading life in a modern city, such as Hyderabad. Basic facilities, such as accommodation, hotels, roads, transportation, health and medical infrastructure, don't exist at the moment near the temporary secretariat as the state government has focused only on the construction of buildings for the temporary secretariat in Velagapudi village.

The temporary secretariat is located nearly 20 km away from Vijayawada city, 35 km from Guntur city and 14 km from Mangalagiri town, cities that employees should select for their accommodation.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has been concerned about high rents in these cities, and employees are ready to live in shared accommodation, but are in a dilemma about renting out entire buildings. The government had earlier identified 75 apartments  for employees to occupy, but this has not materialised so far.

If employees are selecting different cities to live in, reaching the temporary secretariat will have to be worked out as road connectivity is poor. When rains lash the areas, the location of the temporary secretariat is likely to get slushy and muddy.

If anyone elects to live in the villages, there isn't enough housing available nor are there hotels, markets and theatres. Employees would have to depend on Vijayawada and Guntur cities for their shopping, entertainment, education and medical care.

AP Secretariat Emplo-yees Association president B. Murali Krishna said that the employees would have to be ready to face hardships initially. They were ready to shift from Hyderabad, but have been asking the government to let them continue working from Hyderabad for a year more, he added.

One employee, V. Rami Reddy, said that there was no option but to come to Vijayawada but they did need some more time to settle various issues in Hyderabad while the government needed to complete setting up facilities in the next six months.