CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s new office at the Secretariat is taking shape on the 10th floor of Namakkal Kavignar Maligai, with officials planning an east-facing chamber overlooking the Bay of Bengal.
Highly placed sources told the TNIE that PWD is handling the renovation work. The chief minister, his four secretaries, officers on special duty, public relations office and other key staff will function from the floor.
The existing conference hall on the 10th floor has been dismantled to make way for the new CMO. The proposed layout also includes a waiting lounge for visitors and a dedicated meeting hall for official discussions.
Sources said the new office has been designed to improve day-to-day coordination between the chief minister and senior bureaucrats by bringing all key officials into a single office complex. Currently, several members of the chief minister’s team function from different locations within the Secretariat.
Officials said the present office at Fort St. George will continue to be retained and may be used for selected official engagements after the new office becomes operational.
Departments presently functioning on the 10th floor, including sections of the information and Tamil development department and the commercial taxes department, are being shifted to other locations within the Secretariat to facilitate the move.
Sources said discussions were underway on the possibility of shifting the ministers’ offices to the eighth and ninth floors of the building as well.
The government has not officially announced the date for shifting the CMO.