Forget capital, relocation of HoDs will take a year

HYDERABAD: Leave alone shifting the seat of administration to Vijayawada, where the new capital of Andhra Pradesh is coming up, even the process of relocation of some heads of departments (HoDs) from Hyderabad to the jurisdiction of AP might not be completed in the near future.

The reason is that the three-member official committee, set up to make recommendations to the AP government on the office space needed in the new capital and time-frame required to relocate some HoDs, is yet to complete its exercise of eliciting the views of various officials and employees department-wise over the issue.

According to sources, the committee, consisting of principal secretaries Ajeya Kallam (finance), B Sam Bob (transport and R&B) and D Sambasiva Rao (MAUD), has not completed at least half of its task so far.

Though the panel had a preliminary discussion with the HoDs and gathered their views on relocating various departments to the new capital, it later failed to carry out its work with the same pace as several of the officials and employees are reluctant to complete the process at the earliest.

The committee had earlier asked the HoDs to submit to it the information about the departments that could be moved to Vijayawada right now. It also asked the HoDs to furnish the details of total number of employees working in various departments and the quantum of office space they require in Vijayawada. But so far no department has provided complete details to the committee.

A senior official told that relocation of HoDs to Vijayawada might not happen till the next academic year as a majority of the officials and employees want the shifting of their respective offices in such a manner that their wards education is not disturbed.

'A majority of the officials are of the view that they could move to the new capital only after completion of the current academic year,' said the source.

In fact, the panel which is mandated to interact with secretaries and HoDs along with the representatives of employees, already crossed its deadline of submitting its report to AP chief minister within a fortnight since its inception.

After that, the committee asked HoDs to furnish details of their requirement for shifting their offices to Vijayawada by October 6. But, cyclone Hudhud threw a spanner in the panel's works by further delaying the process.

'We have asked all the HoDs to submit a report to us on five key points such as total number of employees working in various departments and the quantum of office space required in Vijayawada and the time-frame needed for shifting, by October 6. But, following Cyclone's attack on North Andhra, this work has not been completed,' said one officer among the three members of the panel.