It is in only one department that modernisation and computerisation have had a telling effect -- the stamps and registration department.

Senior bureaucrats among the Central services have not changed so much and have yet to get a hang of matters. ``We have rules and procedures to follow. How can one change that?'' asks a senior IAS officer. The officialdom is cautious as ``politicians can get away but for us, our careers are on the line''.

Computerisation in the State Secretariat - the hub of all government activity - itself came to a near standstill with one section of employees vehemently opposing it. ``But the situation has changed now and almost everyone in the Secretariat has been trained to use a computer,'' says a senior official connected with the trainingprogramme. Secretariat staff have been trained in batches at special classes conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Technological Services.

But, an employees' leader points out, apart from the Secretariat, other departments have not had the opportunity to go hi-tech. ``Secretariat employees are paid special allowances and there are moves to give them incentives for learning to work on computers,'' he laments.

The Chief Minister has on many an occasion stressed that apart from going hi-tech, there ought to be attitudinal changes among government staff. ``When senior officers themselves are not prone to change, how can you ask lower rungs to change overnight?'' a lower-rung employee asks. That attitudinal change has not affected the higher levels was evident on the day Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee landed in the city to inaugurate the `Cyber Towers', as Hi-Tec city has now been rechristened.

The day also seemed to be the day for goof-ups. First there was Union Minister of State for Urban DevelopmentBandaru Dattatreya who raised a storm over not being invited to the function as his name did not even figure on the invitation card. Incidentally, the Hi-Tec city falls within his Secunderabad constituency.

It appears he tried to contact the secretary in charge of the IT department but the latter ignored him. It was only later after Naidu himself apologised profusely for the lapse that the Union Minister relented and attended the function.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesman and former Union minister Ummareddy Venkateswarulu admits that not inviting Dattatreya, the local MP, was a lapse on the part of the administration.

``Had the general administration department (GAD) handled the affair, things would have gone smoothly as the protocol section is experienced in such jobs,'' a senior IAS officer explained.

Then there was the unsavoury incident at the airport when the Prime Minister arrived. An officer of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police abused two reporters trying to gain entry into theairport with valid passes, while all and sundry from the BJP were allowed in. And when the issue was broughgt to the notice of the city Police Commissioner, he is stated to have promised to ``look into it''.

In Puttaparti of Anantapur district too, scribes had to protest as a couple of them were beaten up by the police under the `able guidance' of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. The local reporters staged a `dharna' in front of the police station at Puttaparti to display their resentment.

``Such things happen and get highlighted as they occur when a VIP is in the vicinity,'' a senior officer liaising with the press asserted. He, however, had no answer when it was pointed out as to why the officialdom could not change into a really `people-friendly' one, as the chief minister wishes.