Kolkata, Sept. 7 -- The West Bengal government is in talks with the Adani Group for the renovation and redesign of Writers' Buildings, including a proposal to set up a museum dedicated to freedom fighters Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Gupta.
The trio had entered the secretariat on December 8, 1930, and killed Col NS Simpson, the then Inspector-General of Prisons, protesting his alleged torture of prisoners.
The state secretariat was shifted to Nabanna in October 2013, after which renovation work at the 250-year-old Writers' Buildings began. Sources said the Adani Group had expressed interest in undertaking part of the restoration as a corporate social responsibility initiative, with a proposed investment of around
Rs 100 crore. CM Suvendu Adhikari had expressed his intention to restore Writers' Buildings as the seat of government, giving fresh momentum to the project.
In June, Adhikari met Karan Adani, managing director of Adani Ports & SEZ, and discussed several issues. Subsequent talks focused on restoring the building's heritage and reimagining its use.
Last week, former IAS officer Sanjay Thade, an adviser to the Adani Group, met PWD officials to discuss heritage restoration and the proposed museum, an official said.
Built by architect Thomas Lyon in 1780, Writers' Buildings stands on a 16-bigha plot and became a symbol of Bengal's political and administrative history.
The main block housed the office of the Prime Minister of undivided Bengal before Independence and the Chief Minister thereafter.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.