Ranchi: A five-member team, led by the state welfare department secretary Himani Pandey that returned on Friday night after a tour of the British-era Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has framed several ideas on refurbishing Ranchi's old Birsa jail, among which will be creating a light and sound show with a mix of the past and present.
"The light and sound show at Cellular Jail had more on the traditional aspects of the place. We will give ours a traditional as well a contemporary touch. In the museums there, they have put up giant write-ups about the history of Andaman and freedom fighters. It is very enriching. We will try something similar here too," said state head of Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development (ITRHD) S.D. Singh, who was in the team.
Singh, who maintained that a detailed project report was already in place, said they would add some new ideas to it, after which, they would submit it to the state government which is keen to set up a museum showcasing the contribution of local freedom fighters including tribal icon Birsa Munda at the old jail.
"We plan to have texts on the tribal movement of our state. Though we don't have a rich repertoire of such history texts, Tribal Research Institute (TRI) will source it from archives and museums of the country," he added.
Pandey's team left for Andaman on Tuesday and returned Friday night. Among the others in it were TRI director Ranendra Kumar, tribal welfare commissioner Gauri Shankar Minz and JUIDCO official P. K. Singh.
S.D. Singh said that during a presentation before the chief minister last week on the plans to set up a museum at old Birsa jail, Raghubar Das suggested that they first see first-hand the facilities available at Cellular Jail and then fine-tune the plan.
On funds, another official who was in the team said that the ministry of tribal affairs had a scheme to set up museums on tribal heroes in states with a significant tribal population. Jharkhand has received Rs 25 crore for such a project.
"The plan is to both conserve the old jail premises, the cell where freedom fighter Birsa Munda was lodged and install statues of other tribal icons," he said.
Singh said a museum on Birsa Munda would be set up at the enclosure, on the first floor, where the tribal leader was lodged. "On the ground floor, we will put up similar facilities about other iconic figures of Jharkhand like Sido Murmu and Kanho Murmu among others," he said.
The Birsa Munda jail is on a 44-acre plot, while the main building is in area spanning 23 acres. After the new Birsa Munda Central Prison came up in Hotwar in 2006, the old jail, which was built in the mid-19th century, was virtually forgotten.
Successive governments came up with ambitious makeover plans ranging from a cultural centre to a museum. In 2006, then urban development minister Raghubar Das planned to convert the place into a shopping mall, but ended up earning the wrath of tribal organisations and residents, who wanted a museum and a cultural centre.
In April 2012, Arjun Munda pitched for "conservation and development" of the historic site. A museum-cum-urban haat at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore was also planned, but nothing happened.
Thereafter, in 2013, former chief minister Hemant Soren also laid a foundation stone of Rs 22 crore-plan to create a Birsa Munda Memorial Park. In the first phase, Rs 3 crore was spent and a park was developed by the forest department.
