Three civic contractual workers in Cooch Behar town have cleaned years of dust from a statue of Suniti Devi, a queen of the Cooch Behar royal family, and painted its pedestal by spending from their own meagre means.

Kishore Dutta, Swapan Saha and Bishnupada Dutta, who earn around Rs 8,000 a month, have been working at the Brahmo Mandir complex from 6am to 9am everyday to paint the statue and also clean the surroundings. Then they join their duties at the civic body.

The Brahmo temple, a heritage structure that is under the civic body, is also in a dilapidated condition.

The trio said they bought paint, brushes and other items on their own.

One of the workers at work. Main Uddin Chisti

“We don’t have the means to clean and paint the temple, which too needs immediate attention. Also, it is a heritage property and we do not have the authority to carry out restoration work,” Kishore Dutta said.

The 141-year-old Brahmo temple is one of the important shrines of the Brahmo Samaj in Asia. It is located on Suniti Road in the town.

Suniti Devi was the eldest daughter of Keshab Chandra Sen, a social reformer and founder of the Nababidhan Brahmo Samaj. She married Nripendra Narayan, a king of the then princely state of Cooch Behar, and is the grandmother of Gayatri Devi, the princess of Cooch Behar and erstwhile queen of Jaipur.