As Amaravati shift deadline of June 27 nears, AP staff express excuses

While Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was busy supervising the work in the new Andhra Pradesh Secretariat at Velagapudi on Monday, the government staff in Hyderabad said they were confused about the shift and were finding excuses against the move. The revenus staff asserted that if they were to shift to Amaravati by June 27, they wanted to know how many Heads of Department had moved to Velagapudi to resume the work. Ashok Babu, who was hero in the Samaikyandhra agitation, had now retracted from his earlier position about the shift and said how could the government staff move to Amaravati when the new capital did not have basic infrastructure facilities. The TDP leaders and the youth are demanding that the staff must shift by June 27. Otherwise they risk losing their position. The government might appoint temorary staff to continue with the work. Rajendra Prasad, MLC, said the government staff must start work by the deadline of June 27. Otherwise, the unemployed who were seeking jobs might be enlisted to continue with the work. A couple of months ago the staff had vowed to start the work at Amnaravati even if it meant working under trees. Now, as the deadline neared, they shifted their position. Observers said they wanted to delay their shift to Amaravati beyond June so they can then say their children had already taken admission in Hyderabad. So it would not be possible for them to go to Amaravati or Guntur or Vijayawda till the completion of their children's academic year. There are said to be some 50,000 AP government staff in Hyderabad.