Goal to Prepare Chief Minister and Ministers' Rooms at Writers' by October 10, Major Challenge in Reform is Preserving Heritage

**Kolkata:** Although the renovation work has been ongoing for a long time, the historic Writers' Building has not yet fully returned to its rhythm. This time, the state's Public Works Department is moving forward with the goal of quickly completing the work of creating seating arrangements for the Chief Minister and ministers at the Mahakaran. The aim is to complete the unfinished work in the hands of the Public Works Department by **October 10**.

On Saturday, the state’s Public Works Minister **Ajay Poddar** held a special meeting regarding the renovation of the Writers' Building. The meeting discussed the progress of work in various parts of the Mahakaran and plans for the future.

According to sources in the Public Works Department, arrangements are being made for the Chief Minister and at least six other ministers to have seating on the **third floor of the Writers' Building**. It is claimed that the work of the Chief Minister's secretariat has already been completed. Additionally, rooms are also being prepared for several important officials, including the Chief Secretary and the DG of the state police.

Among the ministers for whom rooms are being planned at Writers' are **Minister of Municipal Affairs Agnimitra Pal, Panchayat Minister Dilip Ghosh, Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh, Health Minister Sharad Mukhopadhyay, and Public Works Minister Ajay Poddar**.

However, the overall renovation work of the Writers' Building will not be completed immediately. Currently, the renovation work of the **Cabinet Room and Rotunda** is not being undertaken. Emphasis is being placed on completing the unfinished work under the Public Works Department first.

On the other hand, it has been reported that there are plans to hand over the overall renovation responsibility of the Writers' Building to the Adani Group. However, a final decision will be made only after discussions with the Adani Group and reviewing their plans.

As part of the renovation plan, the Adani Group has assigned former Heritage Commission member and architect **Ranjan Mitra** to the task. It has been reported that he has already visited the Writers' Building.

Preserving the character of the historic architecture while renovating is now one of the biggest challenges. The Public Works Department claims that during past renovations, several historical assets of the Writers' were lost or damaged, including European tiles. Therefore, special emphasis is being placed on preserving heritage in this renovation.

It is noteworthy that **even after nearly 13 years since the state government's secretariat was relocated to Nabanna in 2013, not even 50% of the renovation work of the Writers' Building has been completed**, according to claims from the Public Works Department. Therefore, accelerating the pace of work to quickly make Writers' suitable for administrative use is now one of the government's primary goals.