The Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 450 crore a decade ago, is turning out to be a white elephant as successive governments have failed to shift secretary-level offices related to North Karnataka here.
Politicians blame the “godown” like structure with no facilities to house ministerial and officers’ chambers, and the reluctance of senior officials to shift to Belagavi. On the contrary, bureaucrats blame the lack of political will and the politicians expecting bureaucrats to be in Bengaluru as the main reasons for the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha being left underutilised.
Annually, the state government spends nearly Rs 5 crore to maintain the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. The four-storeyed building, with a built-up area of 60,398 sq mt (approximately 15,000 sq mt more than the Vidhana Soudha), holds the winter session of the legislature. It has 38 ministerial chambers and 14 conference halls along with Assembly and Council halls.
Former Chairman of the Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti said Suvarna Vidhana Soudha should have been built as a replica of Vidhana Soudha with all the facilities. “Suvarna Vidhana Soudha looks like a big godown, with hardly any provision for minister and official cabins. It lacks even basic facilities,” he said. He added that senior officials have been raising infrastructure concerns and ensuring delays in shifting of departments.
At least two MLAs from the ruling party, requesting anonymity, said the building is congested and cannot accommodate all the departments. They said there is a shortage of space even during sessions.
“The rooms can’t be bifurcated to house both ministers’ and officers’ cabins. Moreover, the state administration in Bengaluru is housed in three buildings; whereas, here, all of them have to be tucked into this one building,” said one of the MLAs.
In 2020, the Yediyurappa led-government issued government orders to shift nine secretary-level offices to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. However, even two years after the order was passed, except for the State Information Commission, no other department has been shifted to Belagavi.
According to Bhima Naik, PWD assistant executive engineer, who is maintenance-in-charge of Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, only one secretary-level office is functioning here. “Last year, the government shifted 26 government offices from Belagavi, which were functioning in a rented building, here. Of them, 23 are taluk-level offices,” he said.
This move of the government has come under criticism as locals have to travel 14 km to get even minor work done.
G C Muttaladinni, Vijayapura-based farmer leader fighting for shifting of KBJNL to North Karnataka, asks why officials related to a North Karnataka project sit in Bengaluru.
“Farmers and locals have to travel to Bengaluru to get their settlement claims resolved for the Almatti project,” he said.
Shithalnath Kangalgouda, a sugar-cane farmer of Raibagh, said a majority of sugar factories in the state are in North Karnataka. “The current sugar minister is also from here. Then, why should the secretary work from Bengaluru, even after orders were passed to shift the department to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha?” he said.
Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms Secretary P Hemalatha said Suvarna Vidhana Soudha has sufficient space to house all the departments related to North Karnataka. “We can get a network connection and create chambers required to operate from Suvarna Vidhana Soudha,” she said and acknowledged that currently, only taluk and district-level officials are functioning from here.
Several IAS officers refuted the charges of politicians regarding their reluctance to shift to Belagavi. “If the politicians order then bureaucrats have to march,” they said.
A senior IAS officer said before shifting secretary-level offices, the government should first shift commission and director-level officials related to North Karnataka to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha like it has been done in Madhya Pradesh.