AP Bhavan too will be spilt between two states

New Delhi : The iconic Andhra Pradesh Bhavan, which is the hub of political leaders from the combined State in the national capital till now, will be divided between two States ' Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh.

Efforts are underway to establish a separate office for Telangana State. The AP Bhavan officials have been asked to earmark the rooms and other assets for the new State by April 13.

The Resident Commissioner of AP Bhavan in Delhi has received orders to this extent from special protocol secretary NV Ramana Reddy in the State Secretariat in Hyderabad.

As the deadline is fast approaching for the bifurcation of the assets and facilities, the AP Bhavan staff is working round the clock to comply with the orders.

Presently, the AP Bhavan's Godavari Block has a central reception, an Assistant Commissioner's office, a protocol office, a CCTV control unit, while the adjacent Swarna Mukhi Block has an information centre, administrative, technical, legal and clerical other wings with 106 regular employees and another 200 outsourcing staff.

Only 20 of the regular staff are from Telangana.There is an auditorium, a Chief Minister's suite, 12 suites for ministers and 66 rooms for VIPs including MPs and MLAs in the AP Bhavan complex.

In addition to this, there is another complex on the premises in Sabari Block, exclusively to provide accommodation for other VIPs like Governor, Speaker, and Deputy Speaker.The Resident Commisionr has a separate residence and office in another block on the same premises.

The AP Bhavan authorities have been asked to make provision for identical facilities for the two States. As Telangana State comes into being from June 2, the officials are taking steps to see that the division of assets and facilities would be completed by the time.

The AP Bhavan officials are preparing a report to be sent to Governor ESL Narasimhan by April 14, so that a decision on the division would be taken immediately. The Governor is expected to take a call on providing for suites for the two Chief Ministers and ministers of the two States in adjacent blocks or separately.

Currently, Andhra Pradesh government has a plot of 22 acres in Asoka Road near India Gate which is used for staff accommodation. A decision on dividing this plot too to be taken by the Governor, sources said.Besides the combined State has another seven acre vacant land near Bahai House

The AP Bhavan officials are presently busy preparing inventory of all furniture, electrical and electronic appliances and movable assets. Besides the division of the assets, the authorities are also looking to allotting staff to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in ratio of 42: 58. It is not clear whether the employees of AP Bhavan will get options on joining either of the States.