Youth get busy with strategies for Andhra Pradesh

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, March 13, 2014: With the bifurcation of the state becoming a reality, a group of enthusiastic youngsters of Vaada Foundation are busy drawing up strategies for the development of the successor state of Andhra Pradesh and creating a brand for the new state.

They have got an architect from Mumbai to design a new state Assembly building, which they say will be the pride of Andhra Pradesh.

Architect Rajesh Khatter’s design envisions a carpet area of more than two lakh square feet. There will be three buildings in the Assembly complex which will house the legislative council and a common conference hall as well. Vaada spent a large amount of money on drawing up the design.

The Assembly building will have entry from four sides and is an eco friendly structure and a green building. The colour scheme is pink and off white and the stone used is slate from Rajasthan. Slate stone gives warmth in winter and is cool in summer.

“It’s just out of passion and interest that we have designed the state Assembly building. Now that the state is divided, we should work hard to build a brand for our state. It’s with this intention that we got the design done. We will submit it to the new government without any expectations. We just want to create a niche and brand for the new state,” said Vaada Foundation founder, Suresh Raju.

He says that calling Telangana the new state is erroneous. Changing the name on the plaque outside a house does not make it a new house, so technically, Andhra Pradesh is the new state, not Telangana.

“It is Andhra Pradesh that has the enormous task of building a whole new capital.”

He is pitching for a new STD and pin code as part of the brand building exercise. “Most regions that will come together to form the new state have four or five digit STD codes. All capital cities in India, like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad etc., have fancy three digit STD codes like 022, 011, 044, and 080, respectively. The new capital city of Andhra Pradesh too should get a fancy STD code that will add to the brand value appropriate for a capital city. Similarly, the pin code must conform to the standards followed by other capital cities. This will help the new state at the outset, instead of having to undergo many changes after it is established,” said Mr Raju.