Freedom fighters' memorial inaugurated

The present generation can now know about the freedom fighters from Ganjam district with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurating a freedom fighter memorial hall today at Chhatrapur, the district headquarters town.
The hall, the first of its kind in the state, has photographs and oil paintings of the freedom fighters, their life sketches and contribution to the freedom struggle.
"It will help the younger generation know about the contribution of their forefathers in the national struggle," said district collector Prem Chandra Chaudhary.
The hall has been constructed over an area of around 5,600 sq ft and several MLAs and MPs of the district contributed from their local area funds to bear the cost, around Rs 1.82 crore, to built it.

"When the idea of the memorial was mooted by (Khallikote MLA) V.Sugnana Kumari Deo, we agreed to contribute. The district administration has provided the land for the purpose," Rajya Sabha MP Renubala Pradhan said.
"It's like an archive of the freedom fighters of Ganjam district. Researchers too will be benefited from the memorial hall," said Gopalpur MLA Pradip Kumar Panigrahi.

The foundation stone for the project was laid on June 3, 2010.
District in-charge culture officer, Ganjam Sanatana Nayak said the collection of the photographs of the freedom fighters was under process.
Photographs of some noted freedom fighters of the district have been installed. These included former President VV Giri, former chief ministers Biju Patanik, Biswanath Das and Binayak Acharya.