Farewell to iconic colonial-era Fort St George building

Chennai, July 27:

Even as the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government is scouting for a suitable site for a new administrative complex to house the Secretariat outside the core of the city or its outskirts, C.Joseph Vijay is all set to bid farewell to the office of the Chief Minister at the iconic colonial era building at Fort St George to the adjacent modern complex.

With the 10th floor of the Namakkal Kavingnar Maaligai, located within the sprawling State Secretariat premises and housing multiple departments, being refurbished to house the CMO following a security review, Vijay is expected move into the new place, which is contiguous to Assembly Complex, by late August.

And, he will be the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to move out of the heritage building, which has thus far remained the totem for the seat of power as it has entered popular lore. For, in political parlance and in political discourse, capturing the fort is synonymous with seizing power.

While the rationale offered for the change of place for the CMO is congestion and space constraints in tune with the passage of time, some reports say that it is based on astrological advice. Such reports gain credence since Vijay has a personal astrologer Rickey Radhan Pandit Vettrivel, whose appointment as an OSD was revoked recently after widespread criticism.

But, the prime reason for successive governments toying with the idea of having a new assembly and secretariat complex at a suitable place is due to the heritage protection guidelines placing restrictions on new constructions in the complex, which is under the Defence Ministry.

The Namakkal Kavignar Maaligai, named after poet Ramalingam of Namakkal, houses the offices of Secretaries to various ministries and the 10th floor had a spacious conference hall. The Departments functioning from the 10th floor, including those of Home, Commercial Taxes, part of the Information Department, have been informed about the impending shifting of the CM’s office. Authorities are planning to have a separate lift for the Chief Minister in the 50-year-old building. However, issues about relocating the Departments in the 10th floor has not been resolved so far.

There is opposition from the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association (TNSA) for shifting the CM’s office due to the apprehension over the dislocation of the Departments from the 10th floor. The association has been pressing for shifting the entire secretariat and the assembly to a spacious place.

According to reports, two sites within the city – the mofussil bus terminus at Koyambedu and the Highways Research Station opposite Lok Bhavan – were considered but vetoed by Vijay. Earlier, in 2002, late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa proposed to have the administrative city near the heritage town Mamallapuram, which was however dropped. She, then attempted to have the secretariat on the Marina seafront at the iconic Queen Mary’s College and at Kotturpuram in 2003, both were given up due to protests.

Then the DMK regime led by M.Karunanidhi built a new assembly and secretariat complex in 2010 at the Omandurar GovernmentEstate on the Arterial Anna Salai. When Jayalalithaa returned to power in 2011, it was converted into a Super-Multi- Speciality hospital.