Time: 9 pm. Location: Writers Buildings Scene: The aroma of chicken curry being cooked in the food court wafting across the air,groups of people clad in pyjama and kurta huddled in corners of office rooms,playing cards,sipping tea and puffing bidi. Peals of laughter coming from the ladies cloakroom on the ground floor,which is being guarded by lady constables. About seven women employees have put up there for the night. Welcome to Writers Buildings,the state governments headquarters,on the eve of tomorrows industrial strike called by 11 trade unions. With Didi declaring war on the protagonists of the bandh and the state government having made an all-out effort to foil it,several trade unions based at Writers wrote to chief secretary Samar Ghosh to allow its members to stay back at the state government headquarters. Ghosh today issued an order in favour of it. By 5 in the evening,a list of 50 employees was submitted to the PWD in-charge of Writers. So far we have a list of 50 but there will be more than 300. All departments are making arrangements for the stay of their own employees. We are ensuring that they have sufficient drinking water and clean toilets. All the food stalls have been asked to remain open till 11 pm. They have also been requested to stack provisions for tomorrow so that people staying back here get both breakfast and lunch. Lady police constables will be deployed around the ladys cloakroom where seven ladies will put up for the night, a PWD official told The Indian Express. Chief secretary Ghosh said: We are not telling anybody to stay back or leave. We have just allowed people to stay here. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,before Writers late in the evening,said: Tomorrow Bengal will be working. Those government employees who are not coming to work will be faced with a service break. The provisions are there in the rules. Most of the employees are excited at the prospect of staying back. It seems like the eve of a college fest. I took leave for yesterday one month back,but I have been told to cancel it and take leave some other day. Since I live far away,I will have to stay back. I have come prepared, an employee of the department of information and culture said. The PWD has also made arrangements to facilitate the stay of employees at other government offices like New Secretariat Building,Bikash Bhavan and Bhabani Bhavan.
