Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Reporter's Diary

Pleasant homecoming for bureaucrats

It was like homecoming for K. Prabhakara Reddy and V. Usha Rani, former Krishna district Collector and the former commissioner of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation respectively.

The occasion was presentation of awards to outstanding students by Srija, a local organization. Mr. Reddy and Ms. Usha Rani have apparently left an indelible impression in the hearts of the denizens of Vijayawada. This was evident by the warm welcome the bureaucrats received at the function where the organisers, out of habit, repeatedly referred to Mr. Reddy as `mana Collector garu' and Ms. Usha Rani as `mana commissioner amma.' Flashing an ear-to-ear grin, the bureaucrats reciprocated the affection through friendly gestures.

There was a huge round of applause when Ms. Usha Rani received an award from Mr. Reddy on behalf of her daughter, Archana, who was State first in intermediate (BiPC). The audience's gaze was constantly fixed on the two officials who were to leave immediately after the function. It has rightly been said that distance makes hearts grow fonder.

Many efforts are being made to improve air connectivity to the city with different domestic and foreign destinations. Political leaders, industrialists and others have spoken of bringing more flights and making Vijayawada no less a favoured destination than Visakhapatnam, if not Hyderabad. Sometimes this assumes proportions of great rhetoric and a game for scoring political points. But something has happened to make all this look like a comedy of errors. The proposed closure of Indian Airlines booking office has caught different sections, particularly industrialists, by surprise. Now, it is up to the political executive to turn it into a serious affair.

The delay in the District Collector, Naveen Mittal, taking charge as the special officer of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) gave scope for wild speculations in the vernacular press. One newspaper speculated that Mr. Mittal did not assume charge as special officer, while former Municipal Commissioner, V.Usha Rani, was working here because she was a year senior to him in the Indian Administrative Service. The truth in that speculation went unchallenged because Mr. Mittal never took charge as special officer while she was Commissioner. The Collector was, however, forced to take charge as the special officer when Ms. Usha Rani's successor, Natarajan Gulzar, left for the United States for a three-week training. Not a single word was heard from the vernacular press when Mr. Mittal took over, because he is three years senior to Mr. Gulzar.

G. Ravikiran and

G.V. Ramana Rao

in Vijayawada

P. Sujatha Varma, G. Ravikiran and G.V. Ramana Rao in Vijayawada

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