Chandannagar (West Bengal): The French tradition preserved in the French Institute or the French Museum in Chandannagar here is on the verge of extinction due to lack of maintenance. The duplex, built in the year 1812 in French architecture, is today reduced down to a mere remnant of the past. Valuable libraries built during that period, items used by the French and the documents of the Independence period have gathered dust over the years. Nightguards or CCTV cameras are too much of luxuries. Temporary workers manning the dilapidated structure fear the valuables could be stolen during even daytime. The institute here still offers French diploma courses, but allegations are that no proper classes are held.
The museum came within India’s territory after 1950. The Indian flag was hoisted there, but a part of it remains damaged today. There is none to watch fragmented flag flying at the French Institute. The institute has four permanent and five temporary employees, which aren’t enough to run such an institute of this stature. There is no librarian, there is no curator. Although there is a director, his visit is limited to a day in a week. The Deputy Director post has been lying vacant for a long time.
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Although the Indian Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been entrusted the responsibility to look after this historic palace. The positions for the Dupleix building's garden maintenance staff and in-charge of the state horticulture department remain vacant. However, the director of the institute, Falguni Mukherjee, reserved a comment on the matter. Many tourists from abroad have paid a visit here but returned disappointed.
The French set up a factory at Chandannagar in 1688, exchanging 40,000 coins from the Mughal emperors. Later, a French garden house was built on the west bank of the Ganges at Chandannagar. The palace was the focal point of the French colonial rulers. There is a beautiful wooden roof, which is ruined and water seeps through. The monument emphasises the importance of the then French cultural and historical colony. Many Indo-French cultural events used to take place here, but now they are closed.
Temporary staff at the institute, Devkumar Sheel, said: "There is no maintenance. The current director Falguni Mukherjee’s major efforts also didn’t yield results. Different people and foreigners also come to see it and go back from here.” Meanwhile, Basbi Pal, head of the French department at Chandannagar Government College, said, "The Indian Archaeological Department is in charge and there is a director. But sadly, there is no educational head of the education system. It should be a perpetual practice, as we have seen in our studies,” Pal said.
