2 May 2009
HYDERABAD: This one trip to the US that chief secretary P Ramakanth Reddy would welcome to cancel. With the swine flu scare raging across the world and spreading rapidly in the US and Europe, the state government has decided to cancel the visit of a delegation headed by the CS to Washington where they were to have a series of meetings with World Bank officials in May.
To discuss a huge loan for the state government’s road projects with WB officials towards the end of May, the team was to have left for the US on May 4. “However, in view of the swine flu scare, the trip has been cancelled. The matter will be reviewed only after the scare subsides, most likely by the new government,” an official said.
Apart from Ramakanth, the five-member team comprised principal secretary (Finance) I Y R Krishna Rao, finance secretary Vasudha Mishra, roads and buildings principal secretary Tisha Chatterjee and AP Road Development Corporation MD Rajgopal Reddy. The government is seeking the loan for upgradation and improvement of the highways between Kandi-Shadnagar, Chittoor-Puttur, Kurnool-Devarkonda, Mydukuru-Jammalamadugu, Jagityal-Peddapalli, Machilipatnam-Nuzveedu, Kakinada-Rajahmundry. The loan is also proposed to be used for converting Hyderabad-Karimnagar, Narketpally-Addanki, Khammam-Devarapally, Kadapa-Renigunta, Warangal-Khammam, Suryapet-Khammam, etc into four lanes. The proposals also include widening, upgrading and maintenance of state roads and highways.
The chief secretary had visited the US some months ago to take part in a conference hosted by a think tank. Earlier, as special chief secretary, finance, Ramakanth Reddy had made several foreign trips earning him the sobriquet of being the ‘most jet-set state bureaucrat.’ This time around, the CS is relieved that the trip has been cancelled, sources close to him said.
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