Facelift for Assembly

• To be redesigned before the next budget session
• New interiors to greet legislators; extra seats to go

Hyderabad: By the beginning of next budget session, the Telangana Assembly will be sporting a new look. The extra seats inside House will be removed and a new seating arrangement will be in place by February 2015.

Speaker Madhusudhana Chary and Legislative Affairs Minister T Harish Rao held a meeting in this regard with R&B and Lepakshi (state-government undertaking) officials here on Wednesday.

Instructions were given to re-design the interiors to accommodate 165 seats. Although the present strength of Telangana Assembly is 119, the number of segments is bound to increase to nearly 153 after completion of delimitation process. In view of it, government decided to install 165 seats considering future requirements.

Since the House is big and spacious to accommodate 300 members, removing 100-odd seats would result in a large open area. As a result, present seating arrangements are set to be re-designed. The remodelled seating will have sufficient space between rows so legislators could maneuver without difficulty. Seats adjustment will also mean changing the public address system. The existing flooring needs to be removed for wiring and other connections. It may be mentioned here the present House got a major makeover in February 2012.

Green seating akin to House of Commons, England, and a state-of-the-art audio system were put in place by the then Speaker Nadendla Manohar at a cost of Rs 3 crore. It was the major revamp after its inauguration in 1985. Seating design was changed for more comfort, while internal lighting and audio system were totally re-done.