VIJAYAWADA: The absence of the Chief Minister in the Secretariat has helped to create a holiday mood in its precincts. On Tuesday no minister attended office. The majority of secretaries are also absent. With ministers and department secretaries absent from their seats, most of the junior staff too happily left after punching in their biometric attendance.

This is not for the first time that the Secretariat witnessed such large scale absenteeism. Every time the Chief Minister leaves the state to tour a foreign country, there is low attendance in the Secretariat. A senior secretary on the condition of anonymity shared that after the conclusion of the recently held Collectors' Confe-rence, the ministers and secretaries needed a break. With no urgent files to clear, and the Secretariat being isolated from the city, it was okay to take a couple of days’ break, he said.





There are 26 ministers along with the Chief Minister in the state. The Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, PR and RD, IT minister N. Lokesh and finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu are on the Davos tour. The remaining 23 ministers in the state neither attended their work at the Secretariat nor did they use the time to tour their own constituencies and districts.

A senior minister shared, “Like we did in Hyderabad, we are not able to stay in Vijayawada until unless it is a compulsion. Now in the absence of the CM, it is time for us to quickly clear pending personal affairs.”

But a senior TD leader said, "All the ministers have had a strict schedule in the last few weeks. From January 2 to 11, they were stuck to their constituencies with the Janmabhoomi programme. Later it continued in their hometowns till Sankranti. From January 18 to January 22, they were busy with the Collectors' Conference, Cabinet meet, TD party workshop and other issues. Now, with the Chief Minister leaving for Davos, all the ministers are breathing a collective sigh of relief and avoiding the Secretariat temporarily.”

A senior minister shared, “Like we did in Hyderabad, we are not able to stay in Vijayawada until unless it is a compulsion. Now in the absence of the Chief Minister, it is time for us to quickly clear pending personal affairs.”

Agriculture minister Mr Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy shared that though it was not right no minister was available at the Secretariat. “But still, files will not be piling up for clearance as with the e-filing system files can be cleared from anywhere and at any time.”