Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will be visiting Visakhapatnam on a regular basis to hold review meetings on the development of north coastal Andhra Pradesh, according to a Government Order (G.O.) issued on late Wednesday evening.
The Chief Minister will have a camp office in Visakhapatnam. Even for the Ministers and officials, Visakhapatnam would be a transit halt, the government indicated in the G.O. 2015.
The government has constituted a committee comprising Special Chief Secretary (MA & UD Department), Special Chief Secretary (Finance Department) and Secretary (Services & HRM), General Administration Department, which will identify suitable transit accommodations for the offices and submit a report to the General Administration Department. The government, however, did not specify any time for submission of the report.
“The Chief Minister and the Ministers may visit the north coastal districts for review and monitoring the welfare and development activities being implemented in the region with senior officers and the district administrations so that decisions taken are communicated to field-level functionaries quickly. This necessitates setting up of a camp office for the Chief Minister and accommodation for the supporting senior functionaries,” the G.O. said.
The G.O. explained that the north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram-Manyam, Visakhapatnam, Alluri Sitharama Raju and Anakapalli continue to exhibit low socio-economic development indicators in terms of health, education, irrigation, intensity, connectivity, etc. The region is home to a considerable tribal and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) population in the State.
Four of five districts in the region have been identified as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Further, some districts are also covered by the Backward Region Grant Fund. Two of the three aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog are in the Uttarandhra region.
The government said that Section 46(3) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 acknowledges the historical backwardness of the Uttarandhra region and provides for incentives and special development of the region. Therefore, the State government has been focusing on the overall development of north coastal districts.
The government, referring to the G.O. 2004 issued on October 10, said that orders have been issued to all the Secretaries to government, Heads of Departments and Special Officers to visit the north coastal districts regularly for reviewing and monitoring the development programmes, implementation of Chief Minster’s Assistances and decisions taken in the District Review Meetings.
The officials have also been asked to undertake field visits along with the district officials and make night halts to familiarise themselves with the local requirements and development. It was also ordered that for this purpose, the respective departments may make their own arrangements for transit accommodation in and surrounding areas of Visakhapatnam, the G.O. said.
