Shyamhari Chakra
Commemorating the exceptional contribution of several eminent tribal freedom fighters of the country, nine exclusive museums are coming up across India that would be made open to the public in less than two years.
The Union Government, in association with the respective State Governments, is setting up these tribal freedom fighters’’ museums in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Manipur and Mizoram investing nearly Rs.339 crores.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has initiated the projects and is monitoring the progress.
The principal objective of the initiative is to accord due recognition to the unparalled sacrifice and contribution of the tribal people and their leaders to India’s freedom struggle and nation building, the Ministry has explained.
The Ministry held a series of consultations with the state governments in order to finalise the vision and mission behind these exclusive museums. Officials and experts associated with the projects were sent on exposure trips to Virasat-e-Khalsa Museum in Punjab and Manav Sangrahalaya, the Museum of Man, at Bhopal to study designing of the museums in tune with the concept apart from use of technology.
The biggest among these nine museums is coming up in Gujarat’s Garudeshwar at a cost of Rs 102.55 crore. Spread across 70-acres, the museum would educate the visitors about various tribal movements that the country has witnessed.
Manipur’s museum coming up in Senapati district at a cost of Rs.51.38 crore – second expensive project after Gujarat – would be dedicated to Rani Gaidinliu, the late legendary Naga spiritual-turned-political leader who had led the revolt against the British Rule.
Similarly, the museum for Jharkhand state at Ranchi, being set up at a cost of Rs.36.66 crores would be dedicated to Birsa Munda, the fabled tribal hero who lived a brief but very eventful life. The Central Jail where Munda was imprisoned by the British, and the cell where he died would be a part of the museum.
Among other museums, the museum for Chhatisgarh state at its capital city of Raipur would showcase the movement spearheaded by Veer Narayan Singh. While the museum at Lambasingini in Andhra Pradesh would be dedicated to the state’s popular leader Alluri Sita Rama Raju, Telengana’s museum in Hyderabad would commemorate Ramji Gond, the famous leader.
The museum coming up in Chhindwara would be dedicated to three prominent tribal leaders of Madhya Pradesh while Kerala’s museum at Kozhikode would be in memory of Thalakkal Chandu.
While nine states instantly came forward to collaborate in setting up of the museums in the first phase, plans are afoot to cover other states and union territories in successive phases, it was learnt.
