Telangana State is few days away from its third State Formation Day celebrations but the pet project of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao - to give his Government a modern and ‘Vastu’ compliant Secretariat complex - still remains elusive.
In the last three years, several proposals hit the headlines as and when Mr. Rao endorsed them as the venue for the new Secretariat complex, only to be moved to the back burner with the kind of vociferous protests and objections raised by various sections of people.
The new Secretariat idea took shape as the Chief Minister is believed to be not too happy with the ‘Vastu’ of the present building as also the felt need for a well planned and integrated complex. Thus, the search for a suitable land began soon after Mr. Rao assumed charge. Some interpreted the move as a part of grandiose plans to leave a stamp of new Telangana State on key government administrative and legislature buildings.
It is another issue that a debate also ensued among a section of people on the need to splurge public money on a new Secretariat complex while more pressing requirements of public amenities should have got the government’s priority.
Haphazard construction
Justifying the need for a new Secretariat Complex, highly placed sources point out that the existing Secretariat is a haphazard construction with no inter-connected blocks. Often one sees officers walking to different blocks with files tucked in their arms and when it rains, there is no shelter either to wait. Fire safety issues, Khairatabad flyover and the Metro line in the vicinity were other inhibiting factors. “There is indeed need for a good and functional building in a more suitable location. This is the only State that does not have a properly planned and integrated Secretariat complex,” a senior official said.
What again brought the focus back on the proposed new Secretariat complex are the recent protests against the rumoured government’s move to build it in the Parade Grounds. The Chief Minister of course clarified that Parade Grounds was never in the government’s radar but they had requested the Defence Ministry to allot them Bison Polo and Gymkhana Grounds for the Secretariat complex, legislature buildings and a cultural centre.
Apparently the proposal was submitted to the Defence Ministry a year ago but there was some traction recently when some queries were made and an upgraded proposal was sent again with the offer of giving an equal extent and equally valuable land elsewhere.
Ask them about specifics about when the land is expected to be handed over, sources gently point out it’s not in their hands as the land does not belong to them. “ Frankly we can’t say when it will happen,” they admit.
Locations that were considered
One of the first proposals when government was scouting for a suitable place for the new Secretariat was to shift the TB and Chest Hospital located at Erragadda in the city to Vikarabad which is 70 km away.
The move to shift the Chest Hospital, built by the VII Nizam on a sprawling 65-acre campus, was opposed by all political parties, including BJP, besides the employees of the hospital. The proposal was criticised as anti-poor and it was dropped.
Telangana government then wrote to the AP government to hand over blocks allotted for the latter in Secretariat. AP government has shifted its operations to Velagapudi though, as per AP State Reorganisation Act, 2013, it could function from the present premises up to 10 years.
“There was no positive response so far from AP and so the push again for the Bison Polo Grounds. It is for the Defence Ministry to consider and clear our request” sources said.
