Mamata foots bill for office renovation

Ten days after assuming office as chief minister after toppling the long-ruling Left Front government, Banerjee Monday sat for the first time in her refurbished chamber  that had been under renovation for the past few days.

"For painting, interior decoration and purchasing furniture for my chamber and some adjoining rooms, some Rs.2 lakh was spent. I have already handed over a cheque of that amount to the state chief secretary (Samar Ghosh) Monday from my personal account," said Banerjee.

"As the state is going though a critical financial crisis, I don't want the government to spend money for renovating my chamber though officially the state public works department is responsible for carrying out the renovation work," she said.

Banerjee earlier donated Rs.1 crore to the state exchequer from the money raised through her painting exhibition.

She said the renovation has been done without damaging the construction.
"The walls now sport a brighter paint and the interiors have a wooden floor and furniture. It is now more spacious," she said.

"When you have to work for 10 hours daily, you do need some minimum infrastructure. Space is also required for working properly. An investment-friendly environment is necessary for attracting investors in the state, so some more renovation is required at the Writers' Buildings," said Banerjee.

Some departments had been shifted out of Writers' Buildings by the previous Left Front regime. Some more departments, which are self-dependent, would also be shifted in future.

"We need to extend the space of the finance department, home department and the chief minister's office at Writers' Buildings for better functioning of the government," said Banerjee.