‘dIscO’ LIGhTs aT raIsIna hILLs
If some hyperactive officials of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) have their way, the Raisina Hills—the seat of power—will soon be bathed in the night with dynamic LED “disco” type lights of red, blue and green (RBG) colours. In the process, the Star of India, made of glass, atop the Jaipur Column in the Rashtrapati Bhawan’s forecourt, may “disappear” in dazzling changing three-colour lights. Atop the Jaipur Column is a five-ton lotus from which emerges the six-pointed Star of India. The current ruling party, the BJP, loves “lotus”, as it is the saffron party’s election symbol. The CPWD floated an urgent Rs 17.71-crore tender for the RBG colour-changing lighting for the facades of North and South Blocks at the beginning of May. The tender was reissued with some changes on 18 May, with the final date due on 3 June. A similar tender with an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore was floated during the UPA regime in 2009, but it was not executed due to lack of funds. Then, the requirement was the use of white shades of LED lights. Almost every bidder has told the CPWD authorities that the RBG colour lights will not suit the architectural structure of the North and South Blocks. These lights will look jarring in the sandstone buildings around, which house the offices of the Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Home, Finance and Defence. The famous resident of the Raisina Hills—the President—lives nearby. The entire area’s aesthetic beauty would be marred. Instead, yellow They complained that the specifications in the tender have surprisingly been chosen to suit imported products of a leading multinational company’s Indian subsidiary. The bidders have asked the CPWD to re-evaluate the estimated cost as, they claimed, they can do the project in less than Rs 10 crore, as prices of LED bulbs have come down to one-tenth of rates prevailing in 2009. There are whispers in the corridors that a top official is, for strange reasons, pushing the project at an alarming speed as he is due to retire by this yearend. He has the power to sanction projects up to Rs 20 crore. Interestingly, this official flaunts his picture shaking hands with PM Modi at a function on his WhatsApp window. One wonders whether the CPWD has taken the “consent” of the PM and his top ministers who work in the Raisina Hills.