The Telangana Chief Minister’s office has announced that the cabinet will meet on 5 August to discuss several crucial issues, including the proposed construction of a new secretariat complex. The meeting is to be held under the leadership of CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
Rao has been involved in examining designs for the new complex lately. In his review of the construction plan, he has suggested changes to ensure that the new secretariat comes equipped with facilities for ministers, the Chief Secretary, other secretaries and advisors, besides a dining hall, a conference hall and a waiting lounge on each floor of the building. The CM has expressed intentions of allowing Rs 400 crore or above in expenses for the building of the new secretariat complex.
The Telangana CM has since faced criticism for prioritising the construction of the new building over discussing the spread of Covid-19 in the state, despite the Telangana High Court issuing an order to do the latter. People have also taken to social media to demand the allotment of funds for building hospitals and improving medical infrastructure, instead of spending money on the secretariat complex. Rao has included talks about Covid-19 on the agenda for the scheduled cabinet meeting though.
The Opposition also alleged that the CM is favouring his own priorities over the state’s. A senior Congress leader told The Daily Guardian, “Since the Opposition has become weak, we cannot question the CM properly. But he is behaving like a ‘maharaja’ and not like a democratically elected leader. When the whole nation is busy fighting the coronavirus, he is busy demolishing the old Secretariat and constructing a new one.”