CM camp office to be set up in Vizag, AP govt confirms

♦ CM’s camp office to be set up at Rushikonda Beach Resorts

♦ This decision will bring development to backward North Coastal Andhra: Govt

Visakhapatnam: It’s official now. Instead of operationalising Visakhapatnam as the executive capital apparently due to legal challenges, the YSRCP Government will have a camp office of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here as speculated from Dasara festival.

A GO was issued asking officials concerned to find out suitable ‘transit’ accommodation’ as the Chief Minister will be visiting frequently to the backward North Coastal Andhra.

North coastal districts, namely, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipursm, Manyam, ASR and Anakapalle districts need suitable transit accommodation for the official according to Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy.

He issued GO Rt. No. 2004 on October 11 setting up a committee comprising Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Special CS, Finance and Secretary (Services & HRM), General Administration to take suitable decisions regarding this. The GO stated that there is a requirement to set up camp office for the Chief Minister here and find out transit accommodation for officials accompanying him.

Even as the deadline for opening CM’s camp office is nearing, massive window dressing is going on by the official machinery to give a facelift to the roads leading AP Tourism Department’s newly rebuilt resorts at Rushikonda Beach Resorts here. At present, interior decorations are going on. The resort was rebuilt by spending Rs.200 crore.

According to the GO, Uttarandhra continues to exhibit low socio-economic development

indicators in terms of health, education, irrigation, intensity and connectivity. This area is also home to a large concentration of the tribal and particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) population in the State. Four out of five districts of the region have been identified as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Further, some of the districts of the region is covered by Backward Region Grant Fund.

Two of the three aspirational districts identified by NlTl Ayog are in the Uttarandhra region.

The GO states duly acknowledging the context of its historical backwardness, Section 46(3) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014 provides for incentives and special development for the north coastal region i.e., Uttarandhra. Therefore, the government has been focusing on the overall development of north coastal districts i.e., Uttarandhra region.

In the GO it is stated that the Secretaries to the government, Heads of Departments and Special Officers, have to visit the north coastal districts regularly for conducting reviews and monitoring of the welfare and development programmes, implementation of Chief Minister’s assistance and decisions taken in the district review meetings, undertake field visits along with district officials/spend night halts to familiarise themselves with local requirements and development, to develop the project implementation tracking mechanism of the schemes and programmes being implemented in the districts. lt was stated in the order that the respective departments may make their own arrangements for transit accommodation in and surrounding areas of Visakhapatnam.

The Chief Secretary stated in the GO that it is likely that the Chief Minister and Ministers may visit north coastal districts for review and monitoring the welfare and development activities being implemented in the region. At times, the presence of senior government officials may require by the Chief Minister, while they are on visit needing them to stay in the districts. The GO disclosed that all this necessitates setting up of camp office for Chief Minister and accommodation for supporting senior functionaries.