Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is seeking to work out a new model of governance where the accent will be on decentralisation and developing several business hubs, aimed at making it inclusive.

The decentralisation is not only with the aim of taking the administration closer to the people and understand their requirements but also to get over the handicap the State is now faced with: it does not have a capital of its own.

Hyderabad, which served as the capital before the State’s bifurcation, will continue to serve as capital of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the next 10 years. Naidu and his team are keen to develop a new capital that suits Andhra Pradesh’s requirements.

Business wise Having focussed on Hyderabad in the past and developing it as a world class investment destination, and now losing it, he believes that the focus should be on three or four such cities. Each one of them could be developed as a business cluster.

As a first move towards a decentralised approach, after the swearing-in ceremony in Guntur district late on Sunday evening, he announced his decision to hold the first Cabinet meeting in Visakhapatnam.

He went on to say that he will do something similar for other issues as it gives an opportunity to get closer to the people. “We will now have to build a new capital right from scratch. That is from nuts and bolts,” he said.

The padayatra he had undertaken before the election campaign has provided him feedback from the grassroots level which he wants to use to address people’s problems.

The announcement of loan waiver to farmers, weavers and women self help groups, and abolition of belt shops (illegal sale of liquor) in rural areas are just two important issues taken up based on ground level feedback.

Traditionally, Cabinet meetings are held in the capital, but Naidu is hold one in Vizag. The TDP in the past had Prajala Vaddaku Palana, where the administration was taken to the doorstep of people.

Now the move to decentralise administration is aimed at better connect with the people to address their problems.

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