Seated across a vintage wooden table with a glass top in a spacious office on the second floor of the iconic red structure, a senior Public Works Department official reflected on his long association with one of Kolkata’s most distinguished landmarks and former nerve centre of state administration.
“I am on the verge of retirement and have worked in many offices. But Writers’ Buildings is something different. It has a unique charm altogether,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The 246-year-old Writers’ Buildings, one of the most recognisable architectural symbols of Kolkata, ceased to function as the state secretariat 13 years ago when the Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee shifted administrative operations to a 14-storey building in Howrah across the Hooghly River.
A clerk in the Home and Hill Affairs Department recalled the dramatic transformation that followed the relocation in 2013.
“The Writers’ Buildings, with its chambers, long corridors, wooden staircases and iron-cage elevators, suddenly fell silent when the seat of power moved across the river. But over the past few days, there has been a flurry of activity, and the building is coming back to life,” the clerk said.
Soon after securing a decisive victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in April, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced that the new government would once again operate from Writers’ Buildings.
“It was our longstanding commitment that we would run the government from Writers’ Buildings,” state Bharatiya Janata Party president Samik Bhattacharya told reporters on May 5, a day after the election results were declared.
Political commentator Rabindranath Bhattacharya said the decision carries both symbolic and administrative significance.
“Since Independence, Writers’ Buildings, also known as the State Secretariat, has remained the centre of power in Kolkata. The decision to move the secretariat to Howrah was not well received by many. By restoring government operations to Writers’ Buildings, the Bharatiya Janata Party intends to send a message that it is committed to reviving the building’s lost glory,” he said.
The revival is already visible within the sprawling colonial-era structure. On Thursday, sanitation workers were cleaning the ground floor, while extensive renovation work continued on the second floor, where the Chief Minister’s office is expected to be located.
Masons, electricians and carpenters, working under the supervision of Public Works Department officials and illuminated by powerful focus lights, were engaged in transforming the expansive hall that is likely to become the Chief Minister’s chamber. Security personnel remained stationed throughout the area.
“The new Chief Minister is expected to come to Writers’ Buildings and work from this chamber. Therefore, the Chief Minister’s office on the second floor must be completed on top priority. It has to be ready by Friday,” a Public Works Department official said.
The official added that the Chief Minister may temporarily operate from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly until the main block of Writers’ Buildings is fully prepared.
The return of the state secretariat to Writers’ Buildings marks more than an administrative relocation. It represents the restoration of a powerful symbol of West Bengal’s political heritage and signals the beginning of a new chapter in the state’s governance from the historic building that has long stood at the heart of Kolkata’s identity.
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