AP govt mulls crowd-funding to develop new capital Amaravathi

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government is exploring the possibility of launching a unique crowd-funding initiative to develop its capital city Amaravathi coming up in the Vijayawada region.

Under the crowd-funding initiative, people would get their names engraved on a "digital brick" for having made a contribution to the capital city.

The idea was discussed in a meeting chaired by state Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu yesterday, on the arrangements for the foundation stone laying ceremony to be held on October 22.

"This will bring a sense of ownership of the capital," the state government quoted Naidu as saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the foundation stone laying function on October 22 (Vijaya Dasami) and the state government is planning to make it a grand event.

The Chief Minister has asked the officials to expand the capacity of the event site to accommodate over one lakh people as a large number of people are expected to turn up.

The event would also have a special performance called "Raithu Vandanam", thanking farmers for their contribution to the capital.

Meanwhile, the state's Information and Public Relations department today commenced all its operations from Vijayawada, as part of the process of shifting all the state government offices from Hyderabad, which was the capital of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Dr P Krishna Mohan, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), has taken up the additional charge of Commissioner, Information and Public Relations department, according to a release issued by the department.

Further, Ch Johnson, an officer in the cadre of Regional Joint Director in the Information department, has taken up the responsibility of coordinating all activities in the CMO.