Puri: Netaji Museum, the ancestral house of legendary freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose at Gopalballav Road here, has failed to draw visitors, thanks to lack of will power of the administration for its publicity.
After a long legal tangle, the museum was inaugurated by then Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty in January 2019.
“The Holy City witnesses a footfall of thousands of visitors from across the globe on a daily basis. They visit the golden beach and nearby tourist destinations too, but hardly anyone visits the museum. The district administration has done a little to popularise the museum. As a result, visitors to the Pilgrim City hardly have any idea about existence of such a tourism destination here,” Utkal Bikash Yuva Parishad chief Debi Prasad Prusty said.
“It’s unfortunate. The state government is yet to realise the museum’s potential to draw tourists from far and above,” Prusty added.
Prusty said that while inaugurating the museum, Mohanty had said that the museum will be a milestone in Odisha Tourism. And it will definitely attract tourists especially from West Bengal.
The then Tourism Minister Ashok Chandra Panda had said that the museum, featuring Netaji’s lifestyle, is a gift to Odisha especially to Puri residents as it added another page to the Holy City’s tourism map, Prusty pointed out, referring to the high spirit of the state government during the museum’s inauguration.
Sources said that the museum saw a footfall of 15 visitors on its inaugural day. Though it rose to 30 or 35 on a daily basis thereafter for a few months, the museum now struggles to find anyone on most of the days.
Visitors have to pay Rs 10 towards entry fee to the museum which has four outsourced staffers. “As many as 55 visitors had come to the museum on a day in last December. That was the highest footfall so far. On many days, no one visits the museum,” said one of the staffers.
The eight rooms and a hall of the museum showcase the items used by Netaji.
The souvenir shop on the museum premises features rare photographs of Netaji, journals and magazines. The ground floor of the museum boasts separate galleries on Netaji’s early life, his political activities and formation of Indian National Army (INA). Besides, a recreation hall for children is another big draw.
The first floor, on the other hand, houses Netaji’s bedroom, study room, a meeting hall and rooms for his family members. The rooms have British era furniture apart from dress used by Netaji. The rooms also feature rare pictures of Netaji with Mahatma Gandhi and some letters penned by the legendary leader.
