The seat of West Bengal administration will, for the first time in its history, shift out of the Writers' Building to the new 15-storey HRBC building across the Hooghly river in Howrah district tomorrow.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the building painted blue and white and named 'Nabanna' by her. The government offices will occupy the 14th floor in the building.
The furniture from the CMO at the Writers' Buildings has been shifted to the new one at Mandirtala. The shifting is being done for the renovation of the Writers' Buildings constructed in 1706.
Eleven government departments (mostly under the Chief Minister) -- CMO, Police Directorate, Home, Information and Cultural Affairs, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Minority Affairs, Land and Land Reforms, Finance, Agriculture, Disaster Management and the PWD-- would function from the new building.
Three ministers, some officials and employees have already begun working from there.
The Kolkata Police would look after the internal security of the building and the Howrah police would have jurisdiction outside.
Additional government buses would be run to the HRBC building from different points in the metropolis and Howrah after Durga Puja.
PWD Minister Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar has said that the renovation of Writers' Buildings under direct supervision of the Chief Minister would be of international standard.
Though the minister did not reveal the budget for the renovation, reports said it could cost the state government over Rs 200 crore.
Writers' Buildings was constructed for 'writers' or clerks of the British East India Company which gave the building its name.
