Bhagat Singh museum upgrade work hangs fire

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Nawanshahr, March 21

The work of Rs 3.5-crore upgrade project of Bhagat Singh’s museum at Khatkar Kalan, Nawanshahr, is far from completion. The deadline for the completion of the project was December 31, 2022. Tourism department officials had also claimed that the museum would become operational in January this year. Now, it is being reported that it will take another four months. The Martyrdom day of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh is on March 23.

Officialspeak

The project will take 3-4 months to complete. The work on galleries is going on and it will take some time as it involves lots of creative and research work. — Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secy, Tourism dept

Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secretary, Tourism Department, said the project will take 3-4 months to complete. “The work on the galleries is going on and it will take some time as it involves lots of creative and research work,” he said.

The foundation stone of the museum dedicated to Shaheed Bhagat Singh was laid at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of the martyr in 2009. The old museum was demolished around five years ago with its artefacts moved into a new 12-gallery museum.

The aim is to bring it on a par with other big and famous museums and to increase footfall by making everything digital in the museum. Everything will be designed and made in such a way that the visitors enjoy and feel lively. However, same promises were made in 2018 when the museum had got renovated, but everything remained static. “This time everything is being done using advanced technology,” said the officials.

The 12 galleries are named Operational Gallery, Punjab Timeline Gallery, Family Tree, Rise of Revolutionaries, Magic Lantern, Assembly Bombing, Poster Gallery, Jail Gallery, Trial Gallery, Children Gallery, Execution Gallery, and Peace Gallery.

Now, the galleries will be digitised, and there will be a cafeteria and souvenir shop at the museum. “It will be like a walkthrough where every aspect of the martyr’s life will be told in an interesting manner,” an official had earlier informed. When asked why it was taking so long to complete the project, an official said that it was a matter of thorough research and that such projects usually take time.

Big events like Komagata Maru and Ghadar movement will also be displayed.