Kerala Government Secretariat

8°29′50″N 76°56′58″E / 8.4972°N 76.9495°E / 8.4972; 76.9495Construction started1865Completed1869OwnerGovernment of KeralaDesign and constructionArchitect(s)Barton

The Kerala Government Secretariat (Malayalam: Saṁsthāna Sarkkār Sirākēndraṁ) is the seat of administration of the Government of Kerala, in Thiruvananthapuram, housing important ministries and bureaucratic offices.^[1][2] It is the highest echelon of state administrative structure offering locus for the exercise of executive authority by the State Government of Kerala. The secretariat refers to the complex of departments. Its political heads are the ministers while the administrative heads are the Secretaries to the Government. The Government Secretariat is a popular landmark and located in heart of the Thiruvananthapuram City, in Narmada Road. The Secretariat complex was originally constructed as Durbar Hall for Travancore Kingdom.

on a monthly basis apart from the offices of Peshkars (Secretaries of the State). It was designed and built under Barton, the then chief engineer of Travancore and incorporates elements of Roman and Dutch architecture.[3] The construction was supervised by the then Dewan, T. Madhava Rao, whose statue now stands across the road opposite the building.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). There are plans to introduce Kerala Institute of Parliamentary Affairs to this complex.[4]

Apart from the central block, two new blocks, North Block and South block, were constructed on either side of the central block. The South block was opened by the then Hon. Chief Minister of Kerala Sri. Pattom A. Thanupillai on 18 August 1961. Later two "Sandwich" blocks were also constructed in between the central and the new blocks. ^{[citation needed]} The North Block, located at North Gate, houses office of the Hon. Chief Minister of Kerala, offices of a few cabinet ministers and cabinet room. The South Sandwich Block and North Sandwich Block houses primarily offices Government secretaries, though a few offices of ministers are located here due to congestion in north block.^{[citation needed]}

Departments

Kerala Secretariat complex houses offices of various state government department. The business of the State Government is transacted through the following Secretariat Department based on the Kerala Secretariat Rules of Business (KSRB).^[5]

• Agriculture Department
• Co-operation Department
• Cultural Affairs Department
• Election Department
• Finance Department
• Fisheries and Ports Department
• Food and Civil Supplies Department
• Forests and Wild Life Department
• General Administration Department
• General Education Department
• Health and Family Welfare Department
• Higher Education Department
• Home Department
• Housing Department
• Industries Department
• Information Technology Department
• Irrigation Department
• Labour and Rehabilitation Department
• Law Department
• Local Self Governments Department
• Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department
• Planning and Economic Affairs Department
• Power Department
• Public Works Department
• Transport Department
• Tourism Department
• Revenue Department
• Rural Development Department
• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Department
• Science, Technology and Environment Department
• Social Welfare Department
• Stores Purchase Department
• Taxes Department
• Vigilance Department
• Excise Department

References

Branches