State’s plan to shift offices from rented buildings hits roadblock
The State government’s plan to shift offices from private rented buildings to government owned premises has run into hurdles due to space shortage and other issues. Departments have raised concerns over deadlines, amenities and lack of relocation allowances
Hyderabad: The State government’s plans to relocate government offices from private rented buildings to government owned premises have hit a roadblock due to scarcity of space, relocation allowances and other reasons.
On December 20, the Finance department issued a memo to all government departments directing them to move their offices from rented premises to government owned buildings. Initially, December 31 was fixed as the deadline for the relocation, with instructions that no rental payments for offices housed in private buildings would be made from February 1, 2026.
However, the deadline was later extended to January 28. This time too, departments were told that rental payments for government offices in private buildings would stop from March 1, 2026.
Following these orders, the Roads and Buildings department was entrusted with identifying the space required and suitable buildings for relocating government offices to government owned premises.
Accordingly, the department identified four lakh square feet of space in the Greater Hyderabad region, against a requirement of 11 lakh square feet. With the available space, only 13 of the 24 departments could be relocated and accommodated, a senior official from the department said.
“A report has been submitted to the General Administration Department (GAD) on the situation. Now, the GAD has to discuss it with the government and take a call,” the official said.
At present, the State government pays about Rs 500 crore annually as rent for government offices housed in private buildings. This is despite many government offices lying vacant and unoccupied, particularly after the State bifurcation.
While welcoming the move to relocate all government offices to their own buildings, employees have raised a few concerns.
Before issuing orders and setting deadlines, the government should have discussed the proposal with departments. Even to vacate a residential house, tenants have to give a two-month notice to the owner. Many departments had signed rental and lease agreements with owners and have to fulfil the terms and conditions, a senior official from the Commercial Taxes department said.
“Many departments have to clear rental dues to the owners. More so, no special allowances have been offered for relocation to new premises,” the official added.
Another senior official expressed concern over the maintenance of government owned buildings. Before relocating offices, all vacant government buildings should have been spruced up and provided with basic amenities such as toilets, furniture, electricity and parking, the official observed.
Fearing a lack of amenities in government owned buildings, many departments were searching for premises on their own to suit their requirements and would appeal to the GAD for allocation of the identified space accordingly, the official added.