The proposal to build a new Secretariat complex and Assembly building will come at a great cost to the State exchequer apart from the inconvenience of shifting and disruption to administrative work as the Secretariat departments will be moved to different buildings across the city.
Though the new Secretariat complex at the existing land and the new Assembly building at Errum Manzil are estimated to cost ₹ 600 crore, sources say it will easily touch ₹1,000 crore, including all the modern amenities, when the designs will be finalised and the construction commences for the proposed grand and iconic edifice.
If the amounts released by the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments from time to time were taken into account on the renovation and refurbishing of chambers of Ministers and Secretaries in the existing Secretariat since the bifurcation of the combined State, it would come to nothing less than ₹ 200 crore.
Renovation cost
The new gate itself for Telangana Secretariat cost ₹1 crore, according to sources. The Andhra Pradesh government had spent ₹ 50 crore on L and H (South and North) Blocks alone. The cumulative GOs releasing funds for the renovation and interiors are a pointer to this.
After the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won its second term, the ministers recently refurbished their chambers. Finance Department too redesigned the congested sections after waiting all these years and the work is still going on.
If the Telangana government indeed decides to raze all the existing blocks, about ₹200 crore spent in the last five years would come to a nought.
What has also been pointed out by many is several blocks in the Secretariat like D block , C block, H, J and L are fairly new and have a long life.
Disruption
Apart from huge financial cost, sources point out that the shifting of Secretariat departments all over the city to function from different offices will not only cause disruption in work, but may also result in misplacing of files.
There are quite a few officials who are handling two to three departments and coordinating with the department officers sitting at different places will be a problem and precious time will be lost in commuting.
Network centre
Major issue will be with the shifting of network centre with servers and electronic files. It has to be dismantled and assembled all over again at a central place.
Civil Society groups recalled the TRS government’s promise in the first term to build at least four new public hospitals to meet the needs of people in the expanding capital city.
The drainage system is badly in need of upgradation. “Spending public money on such civic amenities will go a long way in improving quality of life for people. Spending hundreds of crores on a new Secretariat and Assembly overlooking other pressing public needs is not demonstrative of fiscal prudence which the Chief Minister frequently talks about,” they say.
