SEC refuses to vacate administrative building

The state election commission (SEC) has turned down the government’s orders to vacate its office in the New Administrative Building, located opposite the Mantralaya at Nariman Point.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had asked the SEC to vacate the office to make way for state government offices after the fire at Mantralaya.

A source in the SEC said: “Chief election commissioner Neela Satyanarayan has conveyed to the CM that it was not possible for them to vacate the place and look for an alternative place.” The SEC office occupies almost an entire floor in the 17-storey New Administrative Building,

A state official said: “The government may not like to engage into any confrontation at this moment. But they are wondering how to get things in order after the fire affected the administrative functioning.”

The fire had destroyed the top four floors of the Mantralaya. The offices of Chavan and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, were on the sixth floor of the building.  

Interestingly, there are several autonomous institutions such as the SEC and the state planning board, which occupy a lot of space at the New Administrative Building.

A senior state officer said, “If the offices at the New Administrative Building use space properly, we can acquire almost six floors to resettle all the affected departments there. It would be the ideal solution.”