West Bengal secretariat moving back to Writers’ Buildings: Small traders hope for revival of businesses

Kolkata: The decision of the new West Bengal government to function from the Writers' Buildings has renewed hope among small traders around the BBD Bag area here, as their livelihoods suffered since the state secretariat was shifted to 'Nabanna' 13 years ago.

Owners of tea stalls and small eateries, fruit vendors and traders in the surroundings of the nearly 250-year-old Writers’ Buildings said the return of government employees and visitors is expected to boost their businesses.

“We barely had time to sit when the state government functioned from here. Government employees, security personnel, lawyers and office goers visited our stall from morning to evening,” said Prabir Saha, a tea stall owner in the BBD Bag area in central Kolkata.

After the secretariat was shifted, the sales dropped drastically within months, and many nearby stalls shut down completely, he said, while elaborating how small businesses suffered in the area.

Several traders recalled how the BBD Bag area once remained bustling throughout the day because of the movement of thousands of government staff and visitors to the Writers’ Buildings that served as the state secretariat since Independence till 2013, when the Mamata Banerjee-led government shifted the office to 'Nabanna' in Howrah on the other side of the Hooghly river.

Rina Shaw, who runs a small fast-food counter near BBD Bag, said small businesses faced uncertainty after 'Nabanna' became the administrative hub.

“Earlier, we employed six people. Now only my husband and I manage the shop. There were days when we could not even recover the cost of raw materials. If offices return here, this entire area will come alive again,” she added.

Owners of xerox and stationery shops said the impact of the shift was immediate and severe because government-related paperwork formed the backbone of their earnings.

“Applications, affidavits, office documents, identity proofs, everything used to be photocopied here,” said Sanjay Gupta, who runs a xerox centre near the Writers’ Buildings.

“After 2013, customers almost vanished. Around seven or eight xerox shops in this stretch closed within a few years because they could not pay rent and electricity bills,” Yogendra, another photocopy stall owner, stated.

Fruit seller Abdul Rahim said footfalls in the area never recovered despite occasional administrative activity.

“Thousands of employees passing through meant business for everyone - fruit sellers, cigarette shops, small restaurants, and roadside hawkers,” he said, adding that "today many shutters remain down by afternoon".

Local traders’ associations estimate that hundreds of small businesses in and around BBD Bag either shut down or drastically downsized over the last decade because of dwindling customer flow.

Economists and urban planners have often pointed out that the relocation of major administrative hubs affected the entire ecosystems of informal and small-scale commerce dependent on daily office activity.

Many traders said they are now expecting a gradual revival of business opportunities if the state secretariat resumes full-fledged operations from the Writers’ Buildings.

“This is not only about nostalgia or heritage. It is about survival for ordinary people like us. Writers’ Buildings fed thousands of families indirectly," said Debasish Mitra, owner of a small hotel catering to office-goers.

Writer’s Buildings, which witnessed an armed raid by freedom fighters during the British period and governance by chief ministers mainly from the Congress and CPI(M), will get back its earlier status as the state secretariat permanently, a senior state government official said.

The Trinamool Congress came to power in the state in 2011, and the CMO was in the Writers' Buildings for a brief period before moving to 'Nabanna', a new 14-storey structure at Shibpur in Howrah, two years later.