HYDERABAD: With the Andhra Pradesh government issuing orders asking Secretariat employees to report at the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi in Krishna district on October 3, All-India Services (AIS) officers are looking for accommodation in and around Vijayawada and Guntur.
So now the state government has to find digs for about 250 officers.
As governments do when faced with such a task, it has set up a committee for this. It is headed by Sam Bob, the special chief secretary in the Roads & Buildings Department.
Officers who have not been able to find accommodation have been asked to post their requirements on the Finance Department’s website by September 30.
The government has already taken 275 flats and 26 villas on lease at Rain Tree Park at Mangalagiri in Guntur district for senior officers.
But sources say most officers are still stuck up on finding ‘decent’ accommodation in the capital region and have decided not to move their families.
Another worry for some of these officials is that since they are already living in government quarters in Hyderabad, they cannot draw housing rent allowance in the capital region. So the question is, who will pay the rent for the apartments leased in the capital region? But come Oct. 3, will they move or not? Given the HRA conundrum, senior IAS officers
are planning to stay in their respective department's guest houses -- if there are any in the capital region.
Since the wife and kids are not moving anyway, government guest houses will do, even if their room service leaves something to be desired.
Sources indicated that while there is a ring of finality around the Oct. 3 deadline, chances are many officers will prefer to drive back to Hyderabad to see the wife and kids every Friday. Besides, many officers, who have built cosy houses for themselves in Prasashan Nagar in Hyderabad are not too keen to move lock stock and barrel to Amaravati. For officers approaching retirement in the next two years, Amaravati appeals even less.
Another problem which AIS officers are facing is that once they shift to Vijayawada they have to vacate their quarters in Hyderabad as the Telangana government may not allow their familes to continue to stay on.