Alaka ashram in Jagatsinghpur. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Aug. 14: Two ashrams where freedom fighters met to discuss ways to rid the country of British rule are falling to ruin, as the administration looks the other way.

Alaka Ashram and Tari Ashram provided shelter to those involved in the freedom movement.

“Alaka Ashram and Tari Ashram in Jagatsinghpur were prominent centres of the freedom struggle. It is unfortunate that the government has neglected to preserve them,” said Pitambar Tarai, a litterateur.

Madhabananda Manohary, secretary of the Alaka Ashram Smruti Parishad, said both ashrams were the meeting places of freedom fighters such as Nabakrushna Choudhury, Malati Devi, Sudhir Ghosh, Garuang Das, Jatiyakabi Bira Kishore Das, Pranakrushan Padihari, Gobinda Mohanty and several others. “They were home to hundreds who advocated the struggle for independence,” he said.

Tari Ashram is almost completely in ruins. Few are aware that the place was a meeting place of freedom fighters.

“Things are somewhat better as far as Alaka Swadhinata Sangramy Ashram is concerned. But it is an old building, and needs to be maintained. The ashrams wear a deserted look for most of the year. Politicians and officials only remember them on Independence Day and Republic Day,” Tarai said.

“The authorities seem disinterested to refurbish places linked to the freedom movement. Money is not the issue. It is the will that is missing. It’s a dishonour to those who sacrificed their lives to make our country free from foreign rule,” said Umesh Chandra Swain, a former MLA.

Government officials, however, had a different tale to tell.

“These ashrams have been encroached upon. Steps are being taken to reclaim the encroached land. Tourism development grants will be used to refurbish the two ashrams,” said Jagatsinghpur collector Satya Kumar Mallick.