CM Revives Kuppam Area Development Authority, Aims for Model Constituency
Tirupati: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has revived and expanded the Kuppam Area Development Authority (KADA), fulfilling his campaign promise aimed at the integrated development of the constituency through planned interventions.
The decision, formalised through a government order, Ms-58, aims to transform Naidu's home constituency into a model for development for the entire state.
KADA was established in January 2015 during Naidu’s previous tenure. Telugu Desam accused the YSRC government of neglecting KADA for political reasons. The CM now seeks to revive KADA to address the constituency’s backwardness.
The restructured KADA now encompasses four mandals - Kuppam, Gudupalle, Santhipuram and Ramakuppam - as well as the Kuppam Municipality, all within the Kuppam revenue division in Chittoor district.
KADA aims at the overall economic growth, development, achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) and zero poverty in the KADA region.
The administrative structure of KADA has been reorganised to ensure a single-line system for better coordination among various functionaries. The special officer has been redesignated as project director (PD), to be filled by an IAS officer. The PD will have administrative control over officers in the region and will be supported by divisional-level officers from 17 different departments.
In a swift move, the government has appointed Vikas Marmat, a 2019-batch civil servant who worked as Nellore municipal commissioner, to this position.
As per the GO, the PD will have direct responsibility for planning and implementing all government programmes within the KADA region. The role entails conducting regular review meetings with all departments, approving leaves and travel allowance bills for gazetted officers, initiating inquiries into allegations against gazetted officers and countersigning the annual confidential reports for officers.
The collector will chair KADA, with the PD reporting directly to him. All officers and staff in the KADA region including the Kuppam RDO will be under PD's administrative control.
The order sanctions 19 staff positions, including an additional PD, tahsildar, deputy tahsildar and support staff. A dedicated budget and head of account will be established by the finance department to support KADA's operations.
The state government order emphasizes a "P4 approach" (public, private, people partnership) and empowers the PD to collaborate with the municipal commissioner on development projects and review state-sanctioned works, while Kuppam municipality remains governed by the Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act.
The ultimate goal is to achieve overall economic growth, sustainable development goals and zero poverty in the region, the GO stressed.
The move has been welcomed by local residents while the opposition YSRC has criticised it as an act of favouritism towards the CM’s constituency. The YSRC demanded that similar authorities should be established for the other backward regions too in the state.