TMC government clears land allotment for Jyoti Basu centre

TNN | Updated: Jul 16, 2019, 6:36 IST 

KOLKATA: The state is set to allot a five-acre plot in New Town for a research centre in memory of former chief minister  and CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu, raising eyebrows in political  circles as many see the government decision as Mamata Banerjee’s  bid to reach out to the Left and secular forces. Papers for the land allocation were ready during the Left Front regime in 2010, but the deal got stuck in 2011 when Trinamool came to power.

Sources in the state secretariat said the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) was instructed to bring out the old files and give sanction to the plot. “The proposal will be placed before the state cabinet and the allotment letter will be issued once it is formally approved,” said an official.

Located in the central business district, the centre will be built beside the upcoming High Court complex.

According to officials, the Left front government had sanctioned a five-acre plot to a trust for setting up a centre where people would get a glimpse of different items used by Basu and have a library to conduct research. There were plans to have an auditorium and hold workshops and seminars as well.

The trust paid about Rs 5 crore to the government and an allotment letter was issued. However, the process to hand over the plot got stuck in 2011.

The CPM state committee had then sought the plot from the Mamata Banerjee government, but no initiative was taken to proceed with the proposal. “The land which they were holding back was sanctioned and the money was paid during the Left Front government’s time,” said CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty.

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CPI(M) delegation meets Mamata Banerjee over Jyoti Basu centre impasse

29 JUNE 2019  

OUTLOOK, Last Updated at 12:06 AM | SOURCE: IANS

Students of Golden Sand Art Institute of Sudarshan Pattnaik at Puri make a sand sculpture of former Chief Minister West Bengal Jyoti Basu

Kolkata, June 28: A CPI-M delegation on Friday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resolve the impasse over the left party not getting possession of a plot of land purchased by it for setting up a research centre in the name of late party patriarch Jyoti Basu.

Member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretariat Rabin Deb, who was part of the delegation, said his party had been allotted a five-acre plot of land by the erstwhile Left Front government in January, 2011 to build the Jyoti Basu Centre for Social Studies and Research in the Rajarhat-Newtown area.

"Accordingly, we paid the full amount for the land in two instalments to the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) by the first half of May, 2011. However, after the present (Trinamool Congress) government came to power, we were not given possession of the land," said Deb.

The CPI-M had originally planned to launch the centre on Basu''s centenary in 2014, and its leaders called on Banerjee and Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim to pursue the matter.

"But the Chief Minister had told us that the minister would take care of the matter. But the government later told us that it was prepared to allot a separate land for the centre.

"We inspected this plot, but found that it was on a marsh land. Then we told the government that since we had already paid the full amount for a specific plot of land on the main road, we would go for that plot only," said Deb.

On Friday, when the CPI-M leaders met her, Banerjee told them there was some dispute over the plot of land allotted to the party earlier.

"We have told the Chief Minister that we can go for a joint inspection of the plot with the minister and HIDCO officials to see if there was any dispute. But to the best of our knowledge, there is no dispute," said Deb.

Jyoti Basu, one of the founding politburo members of the CPI-M, was the Chief Minister of West Bengal during the Left Front rule from 1977-2000 before voluntarily stepping down owing to ill-health and old age. He passed away on Janaury 17, 2010.

The CPI-M plans to utilise the centre to store documents concerning the leader as also the communist movements in India and elsewhere in the world.

The proposed centre is scheduled to have digitised information on Basu, besides housing an auditorium, a conference room, a seminar room, a library and guest rooms.

 Outlook

Take pledge to carry forward Basu's ideals: Karat

KOLKATA: The first death anniversary of Jyoti Basu, a stalwart of the Communist movement in India, was observed in a sombre ceremony at his Salt Lake residence here on Monday even as tributes flowed in through the day.

Speaking at an event in Durgapur in Bardhaman district, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat spoke about the “Champion of the working class” and of the need to take a “pledge to carry forward the ideals and work that he stood for his entire life.”

The former Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, visited Indira Bhavan, the house which served as Jyoti Basu's residence for years, and bemoaned the loss of the leader at a time when political violence had gripped the State.

Describing the situation as “unfortunate and a matter of concern,” Mr. Chatterjee said, “He [Jyoti Basu] always spoke against violence and for working together to build a society not for partisan political purposes, but for the benefit of the people.”

Mr. Chatterjee recounted the days when the veteran Marxist leader was able to hold discussion on several issues, including the violence at Nandigram.

Fund collection

The CPI(M) State Committee launched a 10-day campaign to collect funds for the setting up of a centre dedicated to his memory at the Jyoti Basu Centre for Social Science and Research Organisation.

Issuing an appeal to party workers, supporters and the people to donate funds for the centre, CPI(M) State Secretary Biman Bose said the land for the centre had been allocated in Jyoti Basu Nagar on the north-eastern fringe of the city and a sizable sum was required to purchase the land. The centre would include details of his life, an auditorium, a meeting hall, a conference room, a library and a guest house, Mr. Bose said in a written statement.

The Hindu, January 18, 2011

CPI(M) to set up JYOTI BASU CENTRE FOR SOCIAL STUDIES AND RESEARCH

Kolkata, Jan 15 (PTI): CPI(M) has decided to set up a research centre in memory of party leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu who died on January 17 last year.

CPI(M) West Bengal State Committee has decided to set up a centre for mass movement in memory of Jyoti Basu. An organisation by the name of ''Jyoti Basu Centre for Social Studies and Research'' has been set up for the purpose," a party press release said. Besides information on Basu, the proposed centre would have an auditorium, a conference room, a seminar room, a library and guest rooms.

A request for land at Rajarhat New Town, recently renamed Jyoti Basu Nagar, has been granted by the authorities concerned, the release said. It said funds for the projects would be raised from the public and the fundraising drive would begin from Basu''s first death anniversary on January 17.

CPI(M) planning Basu museum in Rajarhat

Debashis Konar, TNN, Oct 11, 2010, 06.27am IST

KOLKATA: With Rajarhat being rechristened Jyoti Basu Nagar last week, CPI(M) leaders are planning to set up a museum in the township in memory of the departed leader.

Two CPI(M) leaders, Rabin Deb and Avik Dutta, went to Basu's residence, Indira Bhawan in Salt Lake, and collected some of his belongings on Sunday. Basu had lived there for the last few years of his life.

The word coming out is that CPI(M) leaders, being apprehensive about the outcome of the 2011 Assembly polls after a spate of election drubbings, are not eager on the museum coming up at Indira Bhawan, a government property. If the government changes next year, a museum there might lead to unnecessary complications. The idea is to set it up on a private property in Rajarhat, though no location has been finalised yet, a senior leader said.

Party insiders said that Deb and Dutta went to Indira Bhawan to go through the late leader's belongings and decide on which ones would be displayed in the museum.

Both the leaders were tightlipped about the issue, but party insiders said that Deb, a state secretariat member, had picked up some of Basu's belongings, which would be handed over to party functionaries at Alimuddin Street.

A life-size wax statue of the Marxist leader standing at Indira Bhawan will be shifted to the museum. Even the chair on which Basu used to sit is likely to be among the exhibits. The memorial will have a photo gallery featuring important moments from the leader's life. Party leaders are on the lookout for rare photographs of Basu. Copies of these will also be sold to visitors.

Documentaries on Basu, news clippings and films showcasing the leader will also be there for the visitors and specially the new generation to know about the legendary Marxist chief-minister.

Some of Basu's favourite books will also be on display at the museum and along with books on Basu. Speeches and the writings of Basu will be a major attraction for the visitors.

The party leaders also have plans to sell all compilations of Basu's lectures. There will be an audio-video section at the museum where speeches of Basu as CM and CPM leader will be aired. These cassettes and CDs will also be in the purchase section.

However, Basu's former aide Joykrishna Ghosh, who holds office in Indira Bhawan, denied that any item belonging to the leader was taken out by Deb and Dutta on Sunday. He said that all the belongings of Basu were intact at Indira Bhawan.

Rajarhat Newtown to be named after Basu

Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN, Jul 9, 2010, 12.38am IST

KOLKATA: The Left Front government has decided to christen Rajarhat as Jyotinagar after late CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu. The government is also looking for land at Rajarhat so that a museum and education and research centre in Basu's memory can be set up soon.

This project, in fact, has taken precedence as the ruling CPM has decided to give up Basu's former residence, Indira Bhavan, soon. Basu's belongings are still in this two-storey bungalow at Salt Lake, where Basu's 96th birth anniversary was celebrated on Thursday.

"We are making preparations so that Rajarhat is known as Jyotinagar within the next three months," state housing minister Gautam Deb, who is also chairman of Hidco the agency that runs Rajarhat-New Town said on Thursday. In fact, it was on Basu's birthday celebrations in 2007 when the idea of renaming New Town was first announced by protege and former transport minister Subhas Chakraborty.

The renaming plan includes beautification of a 48-hectare waterbody at the junction of VIP Road and Rajarhat. The centre of the waterbody has been land-filled to create an island which, too, will be landscaped so that a statue of Basu can be installed here. Sources said the ruling CPM had planned Jyotinagar for long, and it was with this thought that the island was carved in the waterbody at the Rajarhat-VIP Road junction.

Hidco officials said the government would announce the Jyotinagar project after finalizing an elaborate programme to mark the christening. "Initially, people were looking for an appropriate occasion to announce Rajarhat's new name. But it has been decided that a leader of Jyoti Basu's stature wouldn't need any excuse for the honours," said an official.

The brisk activity to rename Rajarhat and set up a museum in Basu's memory comes in the wake of a refusal by the now Trinamool-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to rename Eastern Metropolitan Bypass after the late patriarch. Last week, the newly formed KMC board turned down the Left Front's proposal, submitted soon after Basu's death on January 17, citing road renaming rules which makes it mandatory to name a stretch only after two years of a person's death. Hidco officials said such rules wouldn't come in the way of Jyotinagar.

For the moment, however, both the government and the CPM mandarins at Alimuddin Street are more concerned with finding a suitable plot for setting up the Jyoti Basu Education and Research Centre and the museum in the patriarch's memory.

Basu's aide Joykrishna Ghosh said, "The CPM has decided to vacate the bungalow soon; they are looking for a suitable plot to set up the museum." The monthly rent of Rs 8,895 for this seven-room bungalow had been footed by the party since Basu stepped down as chief minister in 2000. The urban development department has been trying to look for a plot in Salt Lake, but the government is now more keen on having the museum in Rajarhat.

An official said, "More land is available at Rajarhat for the research centre where Marxism and related subjects will be studied. A separate wing will house the museum where Basu's belongings and books will be preserved."