The renovation in Delhi Assembly has resulted in tonnes of debris. It is really astounding that some 100 odd rooms situated in the premises of the Assembly had never been opened for ages. The locks of these rooms were broken by the Assembly administration to accommodate the 21 parliamentary secretaries to the various ministries and departments. A major renovation work is on in the historic Old Secretariat building, which is now the seat of the Delhi Assembly.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said that he was shocked to see the condition of the Assembly premises. “The piles of garbage were found strewn in several gardens/lawns. We are removing the garbage and have started levelling these open spaces so that they can be put to use again.”
What has come up as a major surprise to many is the fact that a large number of rooms, allocated to different departments of the Delhi Government, had not been in use for a long time. Of these, about two dozen rooms have become victims in war of termites,” he said.
The furniture of a majority of these rooms has been badly damaged. In addition, about 15-odd spacious room constructed only a few years ago, which had never been put to use, are also being renovated. It may be noted that Delhi Assembly was renovated a few years ago when Choudhury Prem Singh was Speaker of the House.
Asked whether he would get the audit done to find out the exact amount of damage which has been caused to the heritage building, Goel said his first priority was to repair all the locked rooms so that they could again be put to use.
“We are getting the doors, windows and other furniture of these rooms repaired on a priority.” Goel said it was shocking to see a historical structure neglected by successive regimes. “I fail to understand why no attention had been paid for the upkeep of this heritage building.” The historic Old Secretariat building was designed by E Montague Thomas and its construction completed in 1912 after a decision was taken to shift the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. Considered as a handsome building with a long front line and two lateral structures, the portion facing the Alipur Road curving gracefully in the centre is like a half moon. There are two minarets at each end and small towers decorate these corners with placid domes. Four blocks divided between the two sides of the council chambers stand inside the square in no way connected to the chamber.
A large verandah with square archways and round pillars run in front run in front of the office. The cream wash of the structure is very pleasing to the eye. It was after Independence that the Old Secretariat building was given facelift from time to time and its landscape improved. Attached to the building is about 10 acre of land, which has been converted into a garden area, including an oval park in front of the Assembly Hall. The historic importance of the building dates back to January 27, 1913 when the first sitting of the legislative Council was convened inside it.
From 1912 to 1926, the pride of place was occupied by the Council Chamber of the Central Government at the Old Secretariat. The legislators who sat in the building laid the foundation of India’s future Parliament. Among the veteran leaders and freedom fighters who had left their mark on the history of this building from 1912 to 1926 were Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Vithalbhai Patel, Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya, Pt Motilal Nehru and lala lajpat Rai. Even the first convocation of the Delhi University was held in the Assembly Hall on March 26, 1923 with 750 invitees. In 1926, the Government of India had allotted the central portion of the building comprising the Assembly Hall and the adjacent rooms to DU on a monthly rental of Rs 350.