On Didi's order

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gets down to business. First to change is the Writers’ Building

The “Chief Minister’s chair” used by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and before him Jyoti Basu, is gone. So is the other furniture from the Chief Minister’s office which belonged to the days of the Communist regime. Determined to script a change for West Bengal, the state’s first woman chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, has started with the Writers’ Building.

“Madam has asked for a new wooden table and chair while discarding all the old furniture,” says S Haldar, an official at Writers’ Building which was constructed in 1706 and was once the clerical office of the East India Company. Today it is the seat of power for West Bengal’s ruling party. As the All India Trinamool Congress, headed by “Didi”, starts its innings, the “Mahakaran”, as the secretariat is called in Bengali, is in for poribartan or “change”, which was the election mandate of the TMC supremo.

“The Chief Minister wants the walls of the room to be painted beige and flooring to be wooden,” says A R Bardhan, secretary, Public Works Development. Banerjee has also ordered for two metal flower vases and a Tagore portrait for her room which will get bigger as the cubicles meant for the CM’s secretary are being dismantled. The chamber opposite the CM’s room, designated for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, is being turned into a visitors’ room.

“We are creating two new rooms for the bureaucrats and cabinet ministers whose offices are outside Writers’ Building,” says Bardhan. Offices of ministers are also being renovated. Meanwhile, the new finance minister, Amit Mitra, has asked to do away with all the 11 telephone lines in his office which his predecessor Asim Dasgupta wanted. “Asimbabu didn’t use a personal mobile phone and had 11 direct lines to various departments, but the new finance minister wants only two lines,” says an official.

The PWD is also installing water purifiers in every minister’s office.

“Renovation will be carried out in two phases. The CM’s office will be ready by May 30, while offices of ministers will be complete within a month,” says Bardhan. A budget of Rs 1.5 crore has been allocated for the first phase, he adds. A proposed media centre and a canteen for officials will be taken up in the second phase.

Writers’ Building is often called ‘Lal Bari’, symbolising the communist establishment of Bengal. But after TMC’s victory on May 13, there have been rumours that the heritage building would be painted green. “Writers’ Building is a listed heritage building. For any proposal to change its colour, permission will have to be taken from the Heritage Conservation Committee,” says Anindya Karforma, director general, Project Management Unit Department, Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

The secretariat is also witnessing a change in work culture. “Didi prefers to work at night and so we are tied up in office till 10 pm, quite a contrast to the 9-to-5 work schedule we were used to,” says an official who does not wish to be named.

Banerjee’s journey on foot from Raj Bhavan to Writers’ Building was an iconic acknowledgment of her fight for the common people. Ever since, hundreds of people have been turning up at Writers’ Building which they now believe is more accessible to them. The last one week has seen security guards struggling to keep them at bay.