ANANTAPUR: The Andhra Pradesh High Court issued a stay against the state government’s decision to take over the historic Victoria Reading Room, Nandyal, in Kurnool district to accommodate offices for the newly-proposed district headquarters. The court was dealing with a petition filed by the committee members of the Victoria Reading Room Trust which opposed the decision.
Nandyal was selected as the new district headquarters as part of the
formation of the new districts in the state slicing it off from Kurnool district following which the district administration planned to occupy the reading room as its offices. The Kurnool district administration had also served notices on the trust and handed over the building to the district administration a few days ago.
The committee members, while opposing the government’s decision, which they contended was without their consent, had approached the High Court.
The committee members further contended that the administration should maintain a status quo on all “historic structures” and not to allocate them for any other purposes.
The Victoria Reading Room was built in 1901 during the British Rule from donations to the trust that was formed which constructed the building for a library. This was the fourth library set up prior to 1956 in Telugu states. The RDO of the Nandyal revenue division acts as the chairman of the trust.
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