CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday announced that a new integrated Secretariat and Legislative Assembly complex, spread over 20 lakh square feet, would be established in Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore. However, the CM did not specify the location for the Secretariat cum Assembly complex in Chennai.
The new complex would bring all government departments together under a single administrative campus and would be equipped with modern facilities to meet the administrative requirements of the State in the coming decades and centuries, Vijay said.
The proposed complex would have fire-safety facilities, facilities for the movement and access of persons with disabilities, and infrastructure conforming to green-building standards. Adequate parking facilities, conference halls, public service centres and modern amenities for officials would also be provided.
The Chief Minister made this announcement under Rule 110 in the State Assembly. He said the decision to establish a new Secretariat complex had been necessitated by the expansion of the State government's administrative responsibilities and the severe constraints on further development at Fort St George.
Fort St George, which has served as the administrative centre of Tamil Nadu for nearly 400 years, was constructed by the East India Company on land purchased in Chennai in 1640. Construction was completed in 1644. After Madras was elevated to the status of a Presidency in 1652, the Fort became the principal seat of British administrative authority. After Independence, it continued to function as the Secretariat of the Government of Tamil Nadu and has remained a symbol of the State's administrative heritage.
The Fort St George complex covers about 107 acres, but only around four acres are under the control of the State Government for the use of the Secretariat. The remaining land is under the control of the Defence Ministry and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), making further expansion and development of the Secretariat difficult, Vijay said.
The Secretariat currently functions from two buildings. The main building, which was originally constructed as the Governor's residence, houses the Legislative Assembly, the chambers of the Chief Minister, Ministers and the Chief Secretary, besides the Finance Department and other important departments. It has a floor area of 2,07,000 square feet.
Namakkal Kavignar Maaligai, constructed in 1978 to meet the State Government's expanding administrative requirements, has a floor area of 3,75,000 square feet, comprising a ground floor and ten upper floors. More than 6,000 employees belonging to over 30 Government departments work in the buildings.
The Chief Minister said a new Secretariat had earlier been constructed at the Omandurar Government Estate in view of the shortage of space and the need for greater administrative efficiency. However, after the building was converted into a multi-speciality hospital and medical college, the Secretariat continued to function from Fort St George.
Explaining the need for constructing a new Secretariat cum Assembly complex, the CM said over the past four decades, the number of employees in the Secretariat and the administrative responsibilities of the government had increased substantially, while the existing infrastructure had remained largely unchanged. The constraints imposed by Defence and ASI land had also prevented the construction of additional buildings, he said.
While describing Fort St George as a proud symbol of Tamil Nadu's administrative history, Vijay said it was necessary to establish a new integrated Secretariat complex to facilitate efficient governance and create world-class public administration infrastructure.
The heritage buildings at Fort St George would be conserved as historic heritage structures so that their architectural and heritage value could be preserved for future generations, he added.
With this announcement, Vijay is the third Chief Minister who is attempting to construct a new secretariat complex in the past two decades. Earlier, former Chief Ministers M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa made this attempt. While Karunanidhi completed the Secretariat complex in Omandurar Government Estate, it was later declared a multi-speciality hospital by Jayalalithaa in 2011.
Building a new Secretariat has been a long-felt need of the successive Chief Ministers. Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in 2002, attempted to establish a 2,000-acre administrative city near Mamallapuram which would accommodate residences for officials also. But that proposal was dropped.
Later, during 2003-2004, she attempted to build a new secretariat in Queen Mary's College on the beachfront, and it was also dropped due to protests from opposition parties. In yet another effort, Jayalalithaa laid the foundation for the new secretariat in Kotturpuram, and that plan was also given up.
Though there were expectations that MK Stalin, who took over as the CM in 2021, might reconvert the multi-speciality hospital as secretariat, it did not happen. The government led by MK Stalin remained in Fort St George. Now, the TVK government has once again gone ahead with this plan and studied places for establishing a new Secretariat.