'Devastated' Andhra brand image needs revision for state reconstruction: CM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday directed all district collectors that the 'devastated' brand image of the state should be revived for its reconstruction.

Addressing the first collectors conference of the new NDA government at the Secretariat, the chief minister noted that the meeting will set the tone for Andhra Pradesh's reconstruction.

"There are many problems and this collectors' conference will set the tone for the reconstruction of the state. This will be a historical conference.

"We have to revive the damaged brand and at the same time we have to prove that the Andhra administration is one of the best," Naidu said.

Emphasising the importance of reconstructing the state, the CM noted that a small mistake can be corrected but "a state which has been completely devastated requires extra efforts to rebuild," alluding to the previous government.

Promising to hold the collectors conference every quarter, he asserted that there had been no such conference for five years under the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government, except the one which ended in the demolition of the Praja Vedika venue.

Calling this conference a tradition, the CM underscored that best practice must be upheld irrespective of the party in power and taken forward.

According to Naidu, there was a time when the southern state's bureaucracy was regarded as one of the best in the country, which produced successive Central IT secretaries and also a couple of apex bank governors.

Observing that Andhra Pradesh bureaucrats also went on to work in the Bretton Woods institution World Bank, he alleged that all that reputation came crashing down under the YSRCP regime.

Naidu claimed that the state's bureaucracy even fell to the level of being considered 'untouchable' in Delhi.

The IAS officers were informed that the state government has readied a 100-day plan to be effectively implemented by the collectors, among other crucial responsibilities.