Hakim inaugurates new Business Club

Social clubs are a necessity in today’s world and a society will emerge centring the business club at New Town, said Firhad Hakim, state minister for Urban Development on Tuesday. He inaugurated the club on Tuesday evening. The club has been constructed and will be maintained by New Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA).

Hakim said urbanisation was incomplete without a good social club where people could come with their families and spend some time. There they will relax and socialise and slowly a new society will emerge centring the club, he maintained. Hakim who is the key person behind Chelta Agrani club requested the authorities not to install wooden floor for the badminton court as players using expensive shoes could play on such courts which often become very slippery and players not using expensive shoes will fall.

Hakim, a keen lover of sports, including Billiards could not resist his temptation and went to the Billiard table and played two strokes. He lauded the efforts of Debashis Sen, chairman of West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) for his initiative to make New Town a showpiece township in the state. Recalling his own experience Hakim said “My wife and myself and Sen and his spouse had been to Eco Park and braving the shower, many people had come. When foreigners come we take them to Eco Park to showcase Kolkata.” He said New Town was becoming a cultural hub with regular cultural programmes being held in Rabindra Tirtha and Nazrul Tirtha.

Bratya Basu, minister for Information Technology said the need of a social club in New Town was urgently felt. No urban development is possible without social life. The club has been as per chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s plans to make “Bengal no 1 in the world.” He inaugurated a dart tournament at the club.

Debashis Sen said there was a long queue to get membership for the club. The members would get all the facilities at an affordable price. The membership fee is Rs 30,000 for three years. The members, along with their spouses and children aged below 18 years can come to the club and enjoy the facilities. The swimming pool was inaugurated in April and it has become very popular among the residents of New Town and its adjoining areas. The members were given membership kits by the ministers.