The Mamata Banerjee administration achieved what was thought impossible — shifting the seat of power out of Writers’ Buildings for the first time in 136 years — but the rush to meet a tight deadline led to a clutch of teething problems.
‘Nabanna’, the new secretariat, was inaugurated on Saturday with the blowing of conchshells and a puja, but all the astrology and Feng Shui that reportedly went into the planning of the building could not predict the chaos on D-Day. Ministers couldn’t find their chambers, furniture and gunnybags lay piled up in the chief minister’s office, some lifts didn’t work and — finally — employees didn’t know where to find tea.
To be fair, it was a mammoth task and the PWD just about managed to scrape through the opening ceremony but it will take at least a month before the new set-up is up and running, say sources.
Mamata reached Nabanna at 12.45 pm — 15 minutes later than scheduled, apparently on Feng Shui advice — and was welcomed by a group of dhakis and women employees blowing conchshells. She hoisted the Triciolour and went up to her office on the 14th floor, which has a made-to-order terrace garden with her favourite plants.
So far, it had been an orchestrated programme. Then, things started getting awry. There were long queues before elevators. No one knew where to get drinking water. The media did not know which way to go or which gate to use. Officials and ministers alike ran here and there looking for their rooms. There wasn’t a locator map or a signboard anywhere to indicate which department was housed where.
Many employees said that the elevators behaved erratically and skipped several floors. Several rooms in the CMO and other departments were in disarray, with chairs piled up, sacks of files dumped carelessly and electricity lines hanging loose. One of the major piques was that there was no arrangement for tea.
A section of PWD staff was upset that they haven’t been given enough space in Nabanna. An official admitted that it will take at least another month or so for everything to fall in place.
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