If one were to go the official Twitter page of Chandrababu Naidu, they will be greeted with a picture of a world-class futuristic city. That city seems like one straight out of a science fiction movie and although it does not exist anywhere in the world as of now, it is the projected vision of Amaravathi.
But if one were to go the actual Amaravathi, he would find nothing there except a few cows munching away lazily and idle villagers gossiping with nothing better to do as they no longer have lands there.
Chandrababu has set a deadline for shifting the administrative machinery from Hyderabad to Amaravathi. Government employees have tried their best to put off the transfer as much as possible but they have no more options now.
Indeed if one were to look into their homes in Hyderabad, the atmosphere would be so glum that you would think they were going off to war with China or Pakistan.
But the IAS officers are more privileged and the prospect of standing at Prakasam Barrage during the weekends and picking their noses obviously doesn’t seem appealing to them.
Accustomed to a city like Hyderabad with all modern amenities, those who can afford to jump ship are doing so. Rajat Bhargava, a 1990-batch AP cadre officer, who has now gone on central deputation and been appointed director of the National Swachh Ganga Mission.
Incidentally, Bhargava, who had voluntarily opted for the AP cadre post bifurcation, was earlier resident commissioner of the state government in Delhi. M Jagadish Babu, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who came on deputation and was appointed secretary of the AP Planning Board, has opted to return to his parent cadre.
At least three other officers are preparing to opt out of the state in the coming weeks.
