Shifting of Secretariat offices on fast-track

Hyderabad: With Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao having laid the foundation stone for the new Secretariat and Legislature complexes on Thursday, the state government has put the process of shifting all offices out of the present Secretariat complex on fast-track mode.

The process of shifting would begin in a week's time. KCR performed special puja at both the venues amidst chanting of Vedic mantras by pandits and laid the first brick as a mark of beginning of the construction work.

State ministers, TRS senior leaders KT Rama Rao and Harish Rao were also present. Interestingly, several officials were seen greeting Harish Rao.

Sources said that the CMO (Chief Minister's Office), GAD and office of the Chief Secretary and Finance department will be shifted to BRK Bhavan which is adjacent to the Secretariat.

The staff of secretariat will be shifted to their respective HoDs (Heads of the Departments) offices located in different parts of the city.

Chief Secretary will hold coordination meetings with all secretaries every week to streamline the administration post the shifting of the offices.

While the new Secretariat complex will be built at a cost of Rs 400 crore by demolishing existing structures near Hussainsagar, the Legislature complex will come up at Errum Manzil, a family palace built by Nawab Fakrul Mulk, a noble of the erstwhile Hyderabad state.

The legal heirs of Fakrul Mulk have appealed to KCR not to demolish the historical and heritage structure, built over 150 years ago. Members of Fakhrul Mulk Legal Heirs' Association have urged KCR to spare the structure so that it can be preserved for posterity.

Association's Secretary and Fakhrul Mulk's great-grandson Sahafath Ali Khan, who is also a celebrity hunter, differed with the view that the building is in dilapidated condition.

He suggested that the state government preserve the heritage structure to receive foreign dignitaries visiting Hyderabad. "It can be built on the lines of Hyderabad House in New Delhi," he said.

In the past Errum Manzil used to host royal banquets and received Viceroys and Governor Generals. The legal heirs of Fakhrul Mulk said if the building was demolished Hyderabad would lose another key heritage structure.

The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other opposition parties are opposing construction of new Secretariat and Legislature, saying this would put unnecessary burden on state exchequer as the existing structures are sound and stable.

Police detained a group of BJP leaders and activists planning for a march to Secretariat to stage a protest.

BJP's Hyderabad unit president Ramachandra Rao was among those detained. Senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao was kept under house arrest to prevent him from organising any protest.

The building, located in the heart of the city, currently houses the office of Roads and Buildings Department.