Varanasi, July 19 Rudraksh - the International Convention Centre that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi barely four days ago, has become a bone of contention between corporators of the Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) and officials of the Smart City Varanasi Limited (SCVL).
The corporators want to use it for holding House sessions, while the SCVL is said to be awaiting government guidelines.
The VMC house along with Tilak auditorium was demolished for the construction of the Rudraksh - International Convention Centre after which the VMC house sessions are being conducted at Gandhi Bhawan of Town Hall or Girija Devi cultural complex with temporary arrangements.
The ICC has been handed over to the SCVL.
The corporators want the Rs 186 crore Rudraksh ICC to be allotted for conducting house sessions.
Interestingly, the BJP corporators and corporators of opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, have similar views on the issue. The SP tried to politicise the issue by staging a sit-in in front of the ICC on Sunday.
Deputy speaker Narsingh Das of Bharatiya Janata Party said, "It's an emotional demand of the elected public representatives. The VMC had a proper setup before it was demolished along with Tilak auditorium for Rudraksh ICC. We had been assured a permanent set-up. However, no work has been initiated in this direction so far. The corporators want that the meeting hall with 150-seats in Rudraksh ICC should be allotted for holding VMC sessions till a permanent arrangement is made."
Chief executive officer of SCVL, Gaurang Rathi, said, "A permanent arrangement of a House has been proposed on a vacant land of the VMC premises and bidding process for its construction is in the pipeline. Till this House is constructed, Town Hall's Gandhi Bhawan is available for holding the House sessions. Once the government guidelines on Rudraksh come, the SCVL will find out ways for allotment of ICC facilities on concessional rates to VMC for holding any special event."
The Rudraksh ICC is a part of Kashi-Kyoto partnership agreement for conserving the city's ancient heritage, signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his then counterpart Shinzo Abe in Kyoto in August 2014.
The ICC has been constructed with joint efforts of the Union ministry for urban development and the urban development department of the state government with the funding by the Japan government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
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