West BengalWriters' BuildingsBBD Baglocal economysecretariat relocation
West Bengal Secretariat Returns to Writers' Buildings, Reviving Hopes for Local Traders
Published: May 11, 2026
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The West Bengal government will resume full administrative operations from the Writers' Buildings in central Kolkata, reversing its 2013 decision to shift the state secretariat to Nabanna in Howrah, officials confirmed. The return is expected to revive economic activity in the BBD Bag area, where hundreds of small businesses reported severe losses after government employees and visitors stopped coming.
Traders operating tea stalls, fruit stands, fast-food counters, and photocopy shops around Writers' Buildings said customer footfall dropped sharply after 2013, forcing many to shut down or downsize. Prabir Saha, a tea stall owner, said sales collapsed within months of the secretariat's relocation, while Sanjay Gupta, who runs a xerox centre, reported that seven or eight nearby photocopy shops closed due to unaffordable rents and electricity bills.
Rina Shaw, who manages a small food counter, said her business now runs with just two people compared to six earlier. Fruit vendor Abdul Rahim noted that thousands of passing government staff once sustained roadside vendors, but afternoons in BBD Bag are now quiet. Traders' associations estimate hundreds of small enterprises closed or scaled back over the past decade.
The Writers' Buildings, a nearly 250-year-old complex that served as the seat of colonial and post-Independence administration, will now permanently house the state secretariat again. Officials said full-fledged operations will resume shortly, with staff and public expected to return gradually.