Hyderabad: The project of constructing a new state secretariat complex has caused a new headache for the Telangana government. Even as it was facing a plethora of problems including legal challenges and opposition protests, the topmost bureaucrat of the state government, Chief Secretary SK Joshi, was also upset and unhappy with the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s attitude on the issue.
According to sources, Joshi was so hurt by the KCR’s angry outburst during an official meeting that he has vowed never to set foot in the old secretariat again.
During the review meeting, the chief minister got angry over the slow pace of moving of various departments from old secretariat buildings and admonished the chief secretary in front of other officials, sources said.
Joshi, whose office was moved to BRKR building, was hurt and decided never to visit the old secretariat again. He told his aides that he will be functioning out of his residence or his new office chambers.
Sources said other senior officials were also shocked by KCR’s haste in moving the offices without any preparation as it was creating a lot of problems in the functioning of the administration. “The chief minister is so caught up with the idea of shifting the offices from the old secretariat that he is not willing to listen to any other idea,” an official said on condition of anonymity. “It is strange because the matter is pending in the High Court”.
The chief minister was pressing ahead with his plan of constructing a new grand complex in place of the old secretariat buildings.
The plan has come under attack from the opposition parties. Congress parliamentarian Komatireddy Venkat Reddy questioned KCR’s obsession with ‘Vastu Shastra’ (Hindu architecture) and said that he was planning to build a ‘vastu-compliant’ secretariat because of his belief that it will help his son K Taraka Rama Rao become next chief minister. “What is the need of a new secretariat building when the state’s economy was in a bad shape and the debt burden was increasing,” he asked.
