Vidhana Soudha corridors present a 'dirty' picture

‘Cleanliness is next to godliness,’ goes an ancient saying. But trust this being scrupulously pursued in the State’s corridors of power – the stately Vidhana Soudha.

That the government is pitifully grappling with the garbage crisis in the State capital is another matter. Reflective of this apathetic approach to clean its own Secretariat is a cause for much concern.

A stroll through the corridors of the Vidhana Soudha, which houses the chambers of various ministers, presents one a picture nothing short of a scrapyard. Stopping at room number 148, one comes across discarded benches, broken furniture and torn sofas lying musty and unattended, collecting grime and cobwebs.

The Public Works department, as the custodian of the Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha and MS Building, mandated with its maintenance and upkeep, has conveniently handed over the herculean onus to the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR).

DPAR sources attributed the sloppy state of affairs to decentralisation of maintenance between the three Secretariat wings – the Assembly, Council and the government.

While the first floor is to be maintained by the Assembly and Council Secretariat staff, the second and third floor is the responsibility of the government maintenance section.

All this has resulted in poor maintenance and unhygienic conditions due to lack of co-ordination.
Sources said the reason for bifurcation was heavy maintenance costs, which will be incurred by employing additional staff for cleaning the Vidhana Soudha.

Further, there are apprehensions that the material scrapped may later be needed by a wing of the Assembly or the Council Secretariat.

Council secretariat officials said there had been a breakdown purely due to official apathy in DPAR. Despite MLAs and MLCs bringing up the matter, things have not changed, leading to a nauseating stench in the corridors.

At the MS Building, where individual departments have been asked to maintain their office space and corridors, each department has been asked to utilise its own staff for cleaning purpose.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that a meeting to thrash out issues so that the State’s various wings of power and policy are kept spick and span is slated for later this month.