YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP on Tuesday appealed to the central government to set up a IIIT campus in the port city.

Addressing the Rajya Sabha, the MP stated Visakhapatnam meets most of the parameters to set up an IIIT campus. He was speaking on the passage of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in the upper house by Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

He informed the Education Minister that already an IIIT campus was established in Chittoor Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to grant degrees and get statutory status. Vijayasai Reddy said since the capital of Andhra Pradesh would be shifted from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam, the port city will be an ideal place to establish a IIIT campus.

He also informed the education minister that the temporary campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) is currently being run at Andhra Bank School of Business Building in Andhra University premises. The Rajya Sabha MP appealed to the education minister to build a special and permanent campus for the existing IIM institute in Vizag.

Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party Rajya Sabha MP Vijaysai Reddy on Tuesday demanded that the Union government constitute a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) bench in the port city. Participating in debate during the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Vijaysai Reddy said setting up of CAT bench in Viskahapatnam has become a dire necessity as the Central government employees were forced to travel to Hyderabad to resolve disputes.

He said the CAT was established under Article 323(A) of the Constitution for adjudication of disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services and posts under the Union government. He informed the house that all metro cities and most state capitals have a CAT bench, which deals with disputes related to salaries, promotions, pension issues, and arrears.

He said AP has over 50,000 central government employees (both retired and in service), with over 60 percent residing in Visakhapatnam. He stated that thousands of employees are employed in various public sector companies such as Steel Plant, Shipyard, Customs, Port, Dredging Corporation, Railways, Airport, HPCL and LIC. Currently, the central government employees are forced to travel to Hyderabad for dispute redresal. He informed the House that setting up of a CAT bench was essential since Andhra Pradesh has been bifurcated.