Can Vijay move secretariat complex out of Fort St George after failed attempts by Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi?

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Thursday announced three mega plans - a new integrated Secretariat and Legislative Assembly complex, spread over 20 lakh square feet, an Olympic city in Chennai and a Motor Sports city in the state.

Making the three announcements under Rule 110 in the assembly, Jospeh Vijay said that a new integrated Secretariat-cum-Legislative Assembly complex spanning over 20 lakh square feet with a budget of ₹1,200 crore will be established. He said this move is a calculated strike against the fragmented arrangement that has long plagued the state's executive function. Currently, the pulse of governance is split between the historic Fort and the Namakkal Kavignar Maaligai, creating an administrative drag that slows decision-making. “The move was necessary to meet Tamil Nadu's administrative requirements for the next 100 years,” Vijay said while reading the 110 statement.

The new campus is being designed as a unified seat of power, incorporating world class green building standards, advanced fire safety systems, and universal accessibility for persons with disabilities. It represents a shift from the cramped corridors of the past to a high-efficiency environment built to handle the complexities of modern policy-making. Tracing the present secretariat complex’s history to 1640 during his speech, Vijay said that though the complex is 107 acres, only four acres is used by the state government for administration purposes. However, Vijay did not specify the location for the Secretariat cum Assembly complex in Chennai.

For nearly four decades, the voice of administration had echoed from the grand old Fort St George. The colonial era masonry of Fort St George under army control and under the Archeological Survey of India has been witness to many historical administrative decisions. And now it seems the 17th century fortress had reached a breaching point.

The hunt for a space for the new secretariat complex

According to sources in the corridors of power, the hunt for space for the new assembly secretariat complex had already begun and Vijay’s announcement under rule 110 came up only after a firm decision on this. The authorities have already identified three sites for the proposed assembly-secretariat complex. The final choice out of the three is likely to made in mid-September after Vijay approves it.

The Highways Research Station (HRS) at Guindy, on the way to airport from the city, a residential colony established by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board in Pattinapakkam or the foreshore estate, and the plot once occupied by the now-defunct Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL) in Nandambakkam have been identified and recommended as the best choices by the authorities, according to sources. But the question here, if the secretariat complex itself is to be shifted, why the chief minister’s office is moved to another premises within the existing Fort St George complex. Also there were gossips saying that the shifting of the CM’s office is being made on the advice of an astrologer. It was also claimed that the chief minister’s astrologers have advised him to choose a beach front or a sea view office so that he can stay in power for more than one term.

Vijay follows the footsteps of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi

But with this announcement, Vijay has become the third chief minister to announce plans for shifting of the assembly secretariat to a new place for want of space. In her second term as chief minister between 2001 and 2006, J. Jayalalithaa, said that the secretariat and the assembly complex will be moved out to a better place. During that time, the then AIADMK government chose to move the assembly complex to the present Queen Mary's College premises on the beach front. As opposition grew against her decision, she then chose to move the assembly to Kotturpuram near the Anna University complex. The Anna Centenary Library stands there now. She also proposed and attempted to establish a 2,000 acre administrative city near Mamallapuram. It was planned in a way that it could accommodate the residences of the officials also. But the attempt was aborted half way due to regime change.

In 2006 after a regime change, the DMK government under M. Karunanidhi chose to move the secretariat premises to Anna Salai. The Kotturpuram space chosen by Jayalalithaa was quickly converted to a library. And a full-fledged complex with a dome structure was constructed at the Omandurar government estate. It was inaugurated before the end of his regime in 2011. But as Jayalalithaa returned to power she converted the secretariat premises into a government hospital.

However, in 2021 when the DMK returned to power under M.K. Stalin, it was expected that he would convert the government hospital back to secretariat complex. But Stalin refrained from doing so.