Jagan issues order to move office to Vishakhapatnam
The chief minister would like to review these programmes with ministers, senior officers and district officials, so that decisions taken are communicated to field level functionaries quickly.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy along with his cabinet colleagues will be moving to Vishakhapatnam to oversee various development programmes in north coastal districts of the state, a government order (GO) issued on Wednesday night said, even as the matter pertaining to three capitals for the state is pending before the Supreme Court.

The government order (GO No. 2015), issued by chief secretary KS Jawahar Reddy, came weeks after the state cabinet had on September 20 given its approval to shift the administrative offices from capital Amaravati to the port city in a phased manner.
According to the GO, reviewed by HT, the chief minister would camp at Visakhapatnam for review and monitoring of the welfare and development programmes in Uttarandhra (North Andhra) districts — comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Parvathipuram Manyam, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Anakapalli.
The chief minister would like to review these programmes with ministers, senior officers and district officials, so that decisions taken are communicated to field level functionaries quickly.
“This necessitates setting up of the camp office for the chief minister and accommodation for supporting senior functionaries, including special chief secretary to government [municipal administration and urban development], special chief secretary to government [finance]; and secretary to government [services and human resources management] and General Administration Department [GAD],” the GO said.
It further said that the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues would be moving to Visakhapatnam to oversee development in the North Andhra region, which continues to exhibit low socio-economic development indicators in terms of health, education, irrigation, intensity, connectivity etc.
“This area is also home to a large concentration of the Tribal and particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups [PVTG] population in the state. Four out of five districts of the region have been identified as Left-Wing Extremism [LWE]- affected districts by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs,” the GO said.
Further, some of the districts of the said region are covered by the Backward Region Grant Fund. Two of the three aspirational districts identified by NlTl Aayog are in this region, it said.
“Duly acknowledging the context of its historical backwardness, Section 46[3] of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 provides for incentives and special development for the North Coastal region,” the GO said.
It further said orders have been issued to all the secretaries to government, heads of departments and special officers to visit the North Coastal districts regularly to conduct period review and monitoring of the welfare and development programmes and implementation of chief minster’s assurances.
Earlier, the state cabinet had approved shifting of administrative offices to Vishakhapatnam in a phased manner, a decision in line with the Jagan government’s push to have three capitals for the state — executive (administrative) at Visakhapatnam, while legislative and judicial capitals at Amaravati and Kurnool, respectively.
A legislation passed by the state legislature in June 2020 was challenged by the farmers of Amaravati under the banner of Amaravati Rajadhani Parirakshana Samithi (Amaravati capital protection committee) in the high court.
After prolonged hearings, the state high court on March 3, 2022, upheld Amaravati as the only capital of the state and questioned the legislative competence of the assembly to pass the three capitals bill.
In September 2022, the state government challenged the high court verdict in the Supreme Court, which is presently hearing the case. The next hearing will take place in November.
“In the first phase, the CMO [chief minister’s office] will be shifted and it will start operating from the port city with effect from October 23 [Dussehra],” state’s minister for information and public relations Chelluboina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna had told reporters following the cabinet decision last month.
A senior official of the state secretariat, requesting anonymity, however, said that since shifting the administration to Visakhapatnam might face legal hurdles as the issue is pending before the apex court, the government has come out with a new strategy to shift the CMO and other offices through an administrative order.
