by M.S. Shanker in HyderabadT
HE decision of Telangana CM
Kalwakuntla Chandrasekhar
Rao (KCR) to demolish existing
structures in the secretariat
and build new ones at a cost of
Rs 400 crore is likely to result in a
political backlash, especially as KCR
blames the Centre for not granting
financial support to fulfil his grandi-
ose dreams. Many political oppo-
nents are questioning the wisdom of
such expenditure when the Andhra
Pradesh government has vacated the
buildings. How can one justify the
need for additional structures in the
secretariat when the erstwhile unit-
ed Andhra Pradesh was functioning
from the same complex with two
times more staff, and when Telanga-
na’s debt has gone up by 9.5 per cent
in the past financial year to over 22
per cent of the state GDP, according
to the Reserve Bank of India.
Can a CM squander scarce financial
resources to satisfy his personal belief
in Vaastu? Soon after the state bifurca-
tion, when KCR rode to power, he did
not use the CM’s official residence, and
chose to build a new Vaastu-approved
residence. The new home was report-
edly built at a cost Rs 36 crore, yet KCR
mostly functions from his ‘farm house’The Telangana CM’s
secretariat redesign
plan draws much flakon the outskirts of the city.
While supporters of KCR in the gov-
ernment justify the construction of the
new complex, the Opposition Congress
and other activists call it “absurd”
considering the financial crunch—and
especially as construction of houses for
BPL families is on hold due to lack of
funds. “Since the formation of undi-
vided Andhra Pradesh in 1956, the
Congress or Telugu Desam govern-
ments have been run from the old
premises,” says senior Congress leader
Marri Shashidhar Reddy. “Now, the
government has no money to pay sala-
ries to its employees, but the CM wants
to raise new structures as per Vaastu?
Whose money is it? Is it not of taxpay-
ers like you and me?”
Reddy adds that KCR has also turned
a blind eye to education and healthcare.
“If this is not Tuglak Raj,
then what else can it be?”
asks another Congress
leader, V. Hanumantha
Rao. “The money could
be spent better in imp-
roving infrastructure in
hospitals, building new
educational institutions
in rural areas, ensuring
timely reimbursement of
scholarships to all eligible
SC, ST and BC students.”
KCR’s close confidant,
TRS member Palle
Rajeshwar Reddy, how-
ever, dismisses the criti-
cism. “Our leader has a
different vision,” he says.“He wishes to make the new secretariat
aesthetically and architecturally better.
Besides, the secretariat must have
world-class facilities as it is the nerve
centre of administration. Moreover, to
provide better administration, it sho-
uld have better ultra-modern commu-
nication facilities.”
Asked about the state’s finances being
in the red, he says KCR is an able
administrator and knows how to han-
dle finances better than the Opposition,
which “messed up things when they
were in power, which resulted in
several parts of the region staying rela-
tively backward”.
Meanwhile, the high court agreed to
hear pleas against the demolition of
buildings in the secretariat from June- It didn’t, however, stop the govern-
ment from going ahead with the
stone-laying ceremony
the day before that date.
“I am confident that the
court will not allow KCR
government to go ahead
with demolition as I
contended that invest-
ment on new structures
is waste of public money,”
says senior Congress
leader Jeevan Reddy.
Observers are waiting
to see how the situation
unfolds, and how the
KCR government justi-
fies its latest decision
despite having ass ured
earlier that there would
be no demolition. O
KCR BLUES
TIMES OF KCR
The state secretariat
in HyderabadThe proposed
changes in
the old complex
to make it
compliant with
Vaastu will cost
Rs 400 crore.P. ANIL KUMAR20 OUTLOOK 8 July 2019
The Vaastu
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The Vaastu
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