HYDERABAD: Telangana Against Corruption (TAC) has demanded that the state government should immediately go back on the plan to build a new secretariat complex in Bison Polo Grounds and the adjacent Gymkhana grounds.
TAC argued that there was no justification as to why the new sectretariat had to be built as the Andhra Pradesh secretariat moved out from Hyderabad to Amaravati leaving ample space for Telangana secretariat. It said that the Telangana government should efficiently use financial resources rather than squandering them on building a new secretariat which will cost `300 crore.
The TAC suspects that the real reason for building a new secretariat is to vacate the valuable land on Necklace Road where the present secretariat stands. It said that going by the statements made by the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in November 2014, it would appear that there was a plan to create commercial space including high-rise corporate office complexes, multiplexes and entertainment zones in the vacated space which overlooks the Hussainsagar Lake. TAC said that such a move would only help realtors and contractors at the expense of the common man and the move was tantamount to privatisation of a public resource. It also questioned as to how can such high expenditure on construction of a new secretariat could be justified in a state where farmer suicides have been very high.