West Bengal’s Writers’ Building is slated for refurbishing of a special kind

Kolkata’s Writers’ Building has long deserved a more appropriate name. Some aver that it should have been christened Sleepers’, or even Wasters’, Building, given the aura of sloth associated with the state secretariat. In that sense, getting the legendarily somnolent government staff to move at all, let alone lock, stock and teacup, was nothing short of a Singur-like victory for Mamata Banerjee. She must be commended for having rousted the state’s redoubtable bureaucracy from its centuries-old, languid routines and given the government officials their marching orders to a new, temporary outpost in Howrah before the Durga Puja holidays.

Not since the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb will there be so much excitement and trepidation about what could emerge from the 237-year-old structure. Also, would the vast piles of dusty files buried in the labyrinths of the complex be dumped in the Hooghly en route to Howrah? That Writers’ — like the state — needs a makeover is evident. However, since the RS 200-crore renovation is to be done under the personal supervision of the chief minister, the building’s distinctive red-brick façade changing to blue and white cannot be discounted. Six months is the slated timeframe for the refurbishment. If only Bengal’s mindset could be overhauled within that period as well.