Raj Bhavan staff quarters get a facelift

KOLKATA: The historic suites, colonnaded ballroom and spacious garden at Kolkata’s Raj Bhavan are not the only ones to be revamped. The 358 group-D and clerical staff-quarters dotted along Government Place East have also got a cosmetic makeover.
After years of apathy, the staff-quarters have a water treatment plant providing germ-free drinking water, proper sanitary toilets and safe electrical wiring, to boast of."Both the governor and his wife (Viren J. Shah and Anjanaben) decided to undertake measures to
solve the problems faced by the staffers who often complained of inadequate water supply and water-borne diseases," mentioned a senior official of Raj Bhavan.
The British style water-pipe inlay system and the high iron-content in the water had clogged the pipes and one deep tubewell was proving inadequate to take care of the 1,500 staff-families staying in the quarters. To top it all, the crammed quarters, dirty walls, broken floors,stinking drains, damaged electrical wiring and unhy-gienic sanitation did not live up to the "staff quarters of Raj Bhavan" sobriquet.
"Our job-profile, of working at Raj Bhavan, often drew awe among folks from our villages. They didn’t know we were not lucky enough to get even clean water and a breathing space like them," stated a staffer of Raj Bhavan.
However, his woes are now a thing of the past. With adequate finance drawn from the state government’s fund meant for the up-keep of the Raj Bhavan and help from the public health engineering department, Shah has initiated measures for the installation of another deep tubewell, laying a water pipe which is connected to the reservoir at the staff quarters and setting up a water treatment plant to rid germs and arsenic. The introduction of better sanitary conditions, by way of repairing floors and leaking ceil-ing, white-washing the walls of the quarters, laying newtiles and new sanitary wares for the bathroom, has con-verted the staff-quarters (alongwith 10 officer’s quar-ters) into a habitable one. A total new electrical wiring has been undertaken to replace the worn out, unsafe wires. In just about two years, the entire staff quarters have been given a facelift and efforts are being under-takento maintain it.
"On paying a surprise visit at the quarters, the governor was quite upset on seeing littered garbage. He immediately issued a notice stating anyone who did not maintain his/her quarters would be asked to leave," said the senior official.
Not one to overlook the similar plight faced by those staying at the Darjeeling and Barrackpore campuses of Raj Bhavan, adequate repair and maintenance efforts have been undertaken there, too. The over 130 staff-quarters at Darjeeling and almost 25 quarters at Barrackpore have got a facelift. All this in keeping with Shah’s belief that the "Raj Bhavan is rightfully their home — having stayed here for generations."