Giridih, Jan. 29: Years of neglect have taken its toll on the building that houses the legacy of scientist Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose. The Sir J.C. Bose Memorial Science Centre, previously named Shanti Niwas, where the scientist died in 1934, is in a state of disrepair.

The centre is located near the PWD ground and the high court in the heart of the city. Barely six years after it was converted into a science centre by Delhi, the centre started crying for attention. The quality of maintenance declined as the district administration turned a blind eye.

Sources said the then Bihar Governor A. R. Kidwai had inaugurated the Science Centre in 1997 and the adjacent building by chief minister Rabri Devi in 2000.

The site was proposed to be developed as one of the biggest science centres in Bihar. Deputy commissioner K. K. Pathak had promised to provide all the modern scientific amenities as well as an aquarium for the benefit of the local youth, visiting professors and students of zoology and botany.

At present, the centre lacks even the basic infrastructure. The telephone line has been disconnected for the past seven months as bills to the tune of Rs 7,689 is pending. The centre’s caretaker has not been paid his salary of Rs 500 for the past 28 months. Caretaker Vinod Mandal said: “The Bihar government was paying my salary till the creation of Jharkhand. After the formation of the new state, science and technology minister Samresh Singh promised me Rs 3,000 per month. But I have not been paid even Rs 500.”

“I have told my story to all those concerned, from the district administration to the HRD minister Chandra Mohan Prasad, but no one cleared my arrears,” Mandal added.

President of Abhiwaykhi Foundation, a local NGO, Sanjay Kumar said: “Government negligence is common, but it is unfortunate that the the district science centre is being meted out the same treatment.” Moreover, the centre does not have any security arrangement.