Telangana Secretariat Building Inaugurated by KCR, Aims at ‘Political Lilliputs’

The Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrasekhar Rao, inaugurated a new Secretariat building today, a sprawling 28-acre structure that stands 265 feet tall and is built over 10.5 lakh square feet in Hyderabad. After inaugurating the structure, KCR said, ‘Today is a red letter day in the history of Telangana. The marvel structure of the new Secretariat is the epicentre of the state administration. I feel blessed and fortunate to have inaugurated the wonderful new secretariat.’ The building has been named after BR Ambedkar, and KCR stated that its intention was for people’s representatives and the entire government machinery to work to realise the ideals of the Architect of the Indian Constitution.

During the inauguration, KCR took a swipe at his detractors, saying, ‘Some Political Lilliputs enemies created hurdles to the construction of the new Secretariat by demolishing the old building in the same place.’ He also stated that ‘reconstruction of Telangana means reviving all the lakes in the State that remained dry due to lack of attention in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.’

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Secretariat on June 27, 2019, but work only began in January 2021, delayed by the covid-19 pandemic, court cases, and other issues. The new Secretariat is a vast improvement over the old complex, which had blocks that were 70, 40, and 20 years old, and ministers, secretaries, and other officials used to sit in different blocks, making work a challenging and lengthy affair. The new building will expedite the completion of work and coordinate with the ministers, secretaries, and officials, according to Vemula Prashant Reddy, Telangana’s minister of Legislative Affairs and Housing.

The domes of the new Secretariat have been designed in the style of the Neelakanteswara Swamy temple of the Kakatiya period in Nizamabad, the palaces of the royals of Wanaparthy ‘Samsthanam’ in Telangana, and the pattern of the Hanuman temple in Sarangpur, Gujarat, according to a government release. The building will undoubtedly serve the state and its people for many years to come.