AP Secretariat department shift is postponed again

Hyderabad: The AP government has again deferred the shifting of the Secretariat departments to the temporary offices at Velagapudi in capital Amaravati, scheduled for July 29.

This time, the state government has cleared three dates to shift the departments; the choice has been left to the individual departments in consultation with the respective ministers.

In a circular to secretaries that postponed the shift, the AP government said it intended to occupy new buildings on August 4, 7 and 10.

Most of the officials want to shift from Hyderabad to the Velagapudi temporary Secretariat by the end of August.  It is expected that the builders will need at least a month for the completion of construction of the buildings at Velagapudi.

However, the Krishna Pushkaralu are scheduled to start on August 12, and will conclude on August 23. Officials do not want to shift during the Pushkaralu.

The officials said that if the occupation ceremony is scheduled for the three allotted days, they would have to return to Hyderabad for some more days.

They said instead of conducting the ceremony one day and shifting of departments on another other day, it would be better to move on one go after the construction of the temporary Secretariat is complete.