‘Step Aside’ in Darj to open its gates for public by Nov end

Amitava Banerjee, MP, 17 Oct 2024, Darjeeling: By November, “Step Aside” where Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das had breathed his last in Darjeeling will open its gates for the public following a thorough renovation. 

The North Bengal Development department had sanctioned Rs 29 lakh for this. Renovation work had started nearly a year ago. “By November, we will open Step Aside for the public. Renovation work is nearly complete with only a few minor works left that we hope to complete by the end of November. 

The opening could have been earlier but an uprooted tree had damaged the roof during heavy rains and thunderstorms on August 2. The roof had to be re-repaired,” stated Richard Lepcha, Sub Divisional Officer (SDO), Darjeeling. 

The two-storied house has undergone a thorough renovation with the wooden floorings repaired or changed. The roof has been repaired. The house has got a fresh coat of paint. We will get more artifacts and pictures for exhibition purposes. We will also have a garden on the front porch. 

The house draws a lot of tourists and will function as a full fledged museum complete with log books and register” added the SDO. 

Step Aside is the two-storied villa located at a stone’s throw distance from the Darjeeling Mall. Chittaranjan Das, who was popularly called “Deshbandhu” (Friend of the nation) was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and a famous lawyer. 

This villa houses a Deshbandhu Museum along with a Mother and Child clinic. Such was the magnetic attraction of Darjeeling that Mahatma Gandhi who was scheduled to stay in Darjeeling for two days in 1925, extended it for five days postponing his Assam tour while Deshbandhu postponed his Bengal tour. 

A few days after the Mahatma left Darjeeling, Deshbandhu breathed his last in this house on June 16, 1925.This house belonged to Nripendra Nath Sirkar (the Advocate General of Bengal and a Law Member of the Council of the Governor General of India from 1934- 1939). 

In this house in Darjeeling, Deshbandhu was accorded a reception when he had arrived at Darjeeling to recoup in 1925. In 1953, under the leadership of the then Governor of Bengal Harindra Kumar Mukherjee, the Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Memorial Society was established. In 1954, Nripendranath Sirker’s son Birendra Nath Sircar, handed over “Step Aside” to the Society. 

The upper floor of the house was transformed into a Deshbandhu Shishu O Nari Kalyan Kendra (Center for Child and Women’s Welfare.) 

A museum was set up in a room on the ground floor. Some personal belongings of Deshbandhu and a few portraits are preserved there, including the bed he had died in. With time the condition of the villa had deteriorated and was in need of urgent repairs. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/junior-docs-strike-swasthya-sathi-expenses-surge-by-over-rs-113-cr-daily-583561?infinitescroll=1