Puri: Three years after its construction, Netaji Museum at Gopal Ballav Road here was dedicated to people by Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty at a special function Tuesday.
Mohanty also unveiled a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at the museum on the occasion.
“The state government had decided to renovate an ancestral house of Netaji at Gopal Ballav Road here and convert it to a museum after the great freedom fighter. It had sanctioned Rs 3.96 crore for the project. Construction work for the museum was completed by 2015 but the project could not be inaugurated due to some legal issues,” Mohanty said while dedicating the museum to people.
Mohanty claimed that the museum would be instrumental in attracting more tourists to the Holy City. “Netaji Museum would be a milestone for our tourism sector,” said the Revenue Minister.
Participating in the event, Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda too claimed that the museum would be another successful chapter to the tourism sector of the Holy City as well as the state. “Puri is an important place with regard to the tourism sector of Odisha. The state government is trying its best to attract more tourists to Puri,” Panda said.
It is worth mentioning here that Netaji’s father Janakinath Bose had constructed a house at Gopal Ballav Road here by availing a plot measuring 433 decimal from the district administration on lease in 1916. The house was recorded in the name of Netaji and other members of his family soon after the death of Janakinath.
The Puri district administration had extended the term of the land lease till 2006. In the meantime, a few relatives of Netaji had approached Puri Collector to omit the legendary freedom fighter’s name from the house ownership list. They also filed a case with the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (central) seeking full ownership of the land in 2012.
However, then RDC Aravind Padhi had rejected the plea and asked the Puri district administration to take control over the house and undertake necessary work to modify the structure as a museum and name it after Netaji.
Challenging the RDC order, some of Netaji’s relatives had filed a case in Orissa High Court. The HC had pronounced a status quo on the house. However, the court had vacated the status quo January 6, this year.
District administration sources said that the state government had engaged Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to renovate the house and modify into Netaji Museum.
“The museum has several rare photos, stamps and other artifacts related to Netaji and the Indian National Army (INA), constituted by the great leader. A souvenir shop has been set up to make visitors know details on Netaji and his activities,” said an official of the district administration.
Moreover, the visitors would have the opportunity to see Netaji’s bedroom, reading room, table, chair and some of his childhood dresses at the museum, said the official.
“We have constructed a water fountain at the garden to enhance the beauty of Netaji Museum. Now, people can visit the museum by paying Rs 10 each as entry fee,” he added.
