Bengal Assembly museum to come up by year end

Kolkata, July 12 The construction of the West Bengal Assembly Museum, which was stalled after the Army claimed the land to be under Kolkata's Blue Zone, finally resumed and is likely to be operational by the end of this year.

The idea borrowed from the Kerala Assembly will showcase the rich heritage and rare documents pertaining to the state

In 2015, the Trinamool Congress, after coming to power for the first time decided to set up a museum inside the Assembly premises and the much-hyped inauguration ceremony was held within the Assembly premises in 2017. But a few days after the construction work started it had to be stopped because of the Army's objection. The land, according to reports, falls under Kolkata's Blue Zone owned by the Eastern Command of the Army and no new construction is allowed in this zone.

According to senior officials of the Assembly, the 2000 sq. ft museum will come up beside the canteen within the Assembly premises. The museum will display sculptures of state leaders who have contributed to building the nation as well as members of the legislative Assembly, starting with the late B.C. Ray. Fibre glass representations of art forms of different states and foreign countries will also be on display.

There will be papers related to the eve of 1947 when the province was partitioned into West Bengal and East Pakistan, and the West Bengal Legislative Assembly was constituted with 90 members representing the constituencies that fell within the area. A history of the Assembly covering the first meeting after Independence, on November 21, 1947, will also be compiled. Works of painters like Jamini Roy and Abanindranath Tagore will also be on display.

A senior officer of the state Assembly said the state PWD department is in the process of completing the construction work as early as possible.

"The basic construction work is over. Once the interiors and association assignments are completed, the state PWD department will hand over the same to the Assembly authorities," he said, adding that the museum will feature a separate auditorium where the Assembly's in-house programmes will be conducted.

Officials, however, are totally tight-lipped on the cost of the project. "Only the Speaker is authorised to speak on this subject," an official said.