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Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, October 5

Want war museum opened at the earliest, says minister

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Kishan Kapoor on Friday chaired a meeting for evaluating progress on making the Himachal State War Museum functional. He was talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a function in Dharamsala. he said the previous Congress government inaugurated the project without completing it and it also did not make arrangements for recruiting staff for maintaining and running the project.

“Since the sentiments of ex-servicemen of the area are linked with the war museum, we are taking care that it is opened for public at the earliest. The state government has provided budget and made provisions for hiring staff for maintaining and running the project”, he said.The war museum at Dharamsala was inaugurated by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh before the last Assembly elections. However, even after 11 months of its inauguration, the museum is yet to be opened for public.

Brig (retd) SL Pathak said 54 arms donated by the Army, including a tank, HP-32 Aircraft and rifles were gathering rust in the Yol Cantonment area. The war memorabilia from the Army was procured with great difficulty. However, it was unfortunate that these were not being put into the museum, he said.

The war museum was first of its kind and a tribute to martyrs, servicemen and ex-servicemen from the state especially from Kangra district. The beautiful wooden outer structure designed on old Himachali architecture by the PWD stands majestically and attracts attention of visitors.

Only the first floor of the museum has been furnished with busts of war heroes from Himachal Pradesh and Kangra district, models of gallantry medals ranging from Victoria Cross that was awarded during British India to Param Vir Chakras, Vir Chakra and other gallantry awards. The first floor of the museum also has the photos of gallantry award winners from the state.

The initial budget of the project was about Rs 9 crore. The museum was constructed to serve as an inspiration for the younger generation of the state to join the Indian armed forces and keep up the tradition of serving the country.