970 crores for 65,000 m² Parliament and 465 crores for 12,000 m² Tamil Nadu Secretariat building | what’s the truth?

Meanwhile, in response to protests against the construction of the new parliament building, the BJP has been spreading information on social media comparing the area of ​​the new headquarters building and the amount to be constructed with the new parliament building during the tenure of the late DMK chief Karunanidhi as Tamil Nadu chief minister.

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They share the comparison of “the construction cost of the new 65,000 sq m new parliament building is 970 crores and the construction cost of the new Tamil Nadu assembly building on 12,000 sq m 10 years ago is 465 crores”. Followers are also asked us to comment on its authenticity.

Fact Check:

Before that let’s find out what the actual area of ​​the Tamil Nadu Assembly building is, they should point out something they have confused about in the information being shared. They first referred to it as 12,000 square meters, then to 12,000 square feet.

BJP spokesperson SG Surya also shared the information, which was changed to “12,000 square meters and 12,000 square feet”. It is well known that the new headquarters building of 12,000 square feet will not be able to be built. Well, it can hold an area of ​​12,000 square meters.

NDTV reported on March 3, 2010, “All arrangements are in place for the new Tamil Nadu Assembly complex to be built on 80,000 square meters at a cost of Rs 425 crore and to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 13.”

According to a report issued by the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department on the new General Secretariat for the year 2009-2010, the new General Secretariat in Tamil Nadu has been constructed in two sections as Block A and Block B. Block A alone is 9,30,297 square feet, while Block B is referred to as 7,43,900 square feet. Similarly, Rs 425.57 crore has been earmarked for Block A and Rs 279.564 crore for Block B.

When the square foot was converted to square meters, Block A was able to identify 9,30,297 square feet = 86,427 square meters, while Block B was 69,110 square meters. The total area is 1,55,537 square meters, the total fund is 705.134 crores. In the news released in 2010, it can be seen that the Tamil Nadu assembly building is mentioned as 80,000 square meters.

This is not just an assembly building. The new General Secretariat will house the offices of the Assembly, the Assembly Secretariat, the Chief Minister, the Governor, the Ministers, the Chief Secretary and key departments. According to the Public Works Department report, seats have been allotted for 30 secretariat departments in Block B.

Although a new General Secretariat building was constructed for Tamil Nadu during the DMK rule during the Karunanidhi regime at Omanthurai Estate in Chennai, with the advent of AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa’s rule, the new General Secretariat premises were converted into a Tamil Nadu Government Multipurpose High Special Hospital.