Andhra panel moots distribution of 'capital functions' for development

A six-member committee of experts constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government has recommended distribution of capital functions of state by locating the Secretariat in port city Visakhapatnam, the Legislature in Amaravati and the high court in Kurnool.

The committee, set up for suggesting a comprehensive strategy for all-round development of the state, also suggested that the summer session of the Legislature could be held in Visakhapatnam while benches of the Andhra Pradesh High Court could be located in Amaravati and Visakhapatnam.

The panel submitted its report to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday.

Interestingly, Jagan Reddy had spoken on similar lines in the assembly on December 17 when he indicated that the state could have three capitals.

Addressing a press conference here after submitting their report, the committee members said their major recommendation was to bring about a balanced regional development in the state, using the idea of the capital to obtain it.

The committee suggested setting up of regional commissionerates for development on the pattern of Karnataka.

We recommended redistribution of capital functions to achieve balanced development. The state has to be divided into four regions for administrative purposes...," one of the members said.

The four regions are north coastal region comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts, central coastal with East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna; south coastal Guntur, Prakasam and SPS Nellore and Rayalaseema region with Chittoor, Kurnool, Kadapa and Anantapuramu districts.

Since thousands of crores of rupees has already been spent in Amaravati, the infrastructure created so far could be put to better use for administrative purposes.

The Raj Bhavan could also be located in Amaravati while the Chief Ministers Camp Office could be in Visakhapatnam, the committee has suggested.

The panel, headed by retired IAS officer G Nageswara Rao, had also been asked by the over six-month old YSRC government to undertake a quick review of the developmental plans initiated so far.

Mahavir, Professor of Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi; Anjali Mohan, Urban and Regional Planner; Shivananda Swamy, CEPT, Ahmedabad; K T Ravindran, retired professor, Delhi School of Architecture, and K V Arunachalam, retired Chief Urban Planner, Chennai, are the other members.

The committee, constituted on September 13, toured different parts of the state and spoke to a cross-section of people to elicit views on various aspects.

It also sought the views of farmers who gave up over 33,000 acres of their fertile agricultural land for the development of the capital city at Amaravati.

The state government has been maintaining that it would take a final call on the shape and scope of the capital based on the recommendations of the experts committee.

The state Cabinet is scheduled to meet here on December 27 where the expert committee report will be discussed, official sources said.

Kurnool in Rayalaseema was the capital of the erstwhile Andhra state from 1953 to 1956.