Telangana: New secretariat to have church, temple, mosque

HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday said a mosque, a temple and a church will be built on the premises of the proposed secretariat complex at government cost. Foundation for the religious structures will be laid after the assembly and council sessions and construction would be started immediately. Construction will be completed at the earliest, he added.
A delegation of Muslim religious elders, led by home minister Mohd Mahmood Ali and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, met the chief minister on razing of two mosques at the old secretariat complex and construction of new places of worship on Saturday.
The chief minister said a temple and two mosques, which were damaged while demolishing the old secretarial buildings, would be constructed with all the facilities. “The two mosques, each in 750 sq yard, including an imam quarters. The new mosques will come up at the same location where they were at the new secretariat. After the construction, they will be handed over to the State Waqf Board,” KCR informed the delegation.
Since Nalla Pochamma temple, also damaged in the demolition of old buildings, a temple would also be constructed in 1,500 sq yard, which would be handed over to the endowments department, he said. As there was a demand from the Christian community that they should also have church at the new secretariat, the government would construct the place of worship for them too, the CM said. He said due to widening of roads in Narayanpet an Ashoorkhana was damaged. And, he instructed the collector to identify land and construct a new one.
KCR said the government would expedite the construction of Anees-ul-Gurbah, the institution which gives shelter to orphaned Muslim children and gives them education. “Already 80% of construction work was done and Rs 18 crore more is needed, which will be released and construction works will be completed soon,” he informed. He said an Islamic centre in Hyderabad with international standards was coming up and land was allotted for it. There was some delay in construction of the centre due to Covid-19 and works would be put on fast-track, he added.
Saying the government was committed for welfare of Muslim minorities, the CM said as there were lack of graveyards (khabrastans) around the city, the government directed the collectors of Rangareddy and Medchal district to identify parcels of land. Nearly, 150 to 200 khabrastans would be identified, KCR said.
Chandrasekhar Rao also said as the government recognised Urdu as the second official language of the state, promotion programmes for the language would be taken up and a vice-chairman for Urdu language commission would be appointed.