Nagpur: Two city activists have criticized the decision of the district planning committee to grant tourism status to
Smruti Mandir which houses the memorial of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Dr KB Hedgewar. It is located at the Sangh’s Reshimbagh facility.
The district planning committee issued a notification giving Grade C tourism status to the 78-year-old Smruti Bhavan that is operated by the Hedgewar Smarak Samiti. The status was given as per the recommendation of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) that listed the spot in the ‘Nagpur Darshan’ itinerary. It claimed that a large number of people visit Smruti Mandir during Vijaydashami celebrations in October and on other occasions too.
Criticizing the move, activist Mohanish Jabalpure has lodged complaints on Monday with the President, state government, divisional commissioner and Sadar police station demanding scrapping of the notification.
Another activist Janardhan Moon, who too runs an organization called the ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ which he unsuccessfully tried to get registered, said in a press release on Tuesday said that the district administration should immediately ensure the removal of police security from Smruti Mandir. “Security personnel are posted there to restrict people’s entry. One can enter the premises only if there is an invitation. Entry should be free for all and facilities should be created for people as it is now a tourist spot,” he said.
In his complaint, Jabalpure said that Smruti Mandir was the privately held premises of Hedgewar Smarak Samiti which is run by RSS activists. “Therefore giving tourism status to it is wrong. The premises only witnesses events of RSS. Only activists of RSS and BJP visit the premises. Public money should not be spend by the civic body and government on the premises’ development or operation and maintenance,” he said.
Jabalpure also wanted to know why the status was given only now even though the memorial is several years old. “The process to give tourism status started only after works proposed in the premises by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) got held up. An inquiry should be conducted against the then collector Sachin Kurve and the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) who recommended the tourism status,” he said.
Jabalpure, a resident of Mahal where the RSS headquarters is located, has also filed a petition in the district court against the police department for not taking action against the organization for displaying and possessing weapons without having the valid licence.
Smruti Mandir is the city’s first memorial and a spot where events are held to get tourism status. The popular Zero Mile Stone, Tekdi Ganesh Temple, Tajbagh mausoleum, Sitabuldi Fort, Poddareshwar Ram Mandir, Narrow Gauge Rail Museum, Swaminarayan Mandir, Telangkhedi Lake among others, which attract a large number of visitors, are not in the list.
The process to give tourism status to Smruti Mandir commenced after a petition filed by Moon in the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court raising an objection on the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) decision to spend public money of Rs1.37 crore for the construction of a compound wall and road in Reshimbagh even though it was a private premises.
The civic body took the decision in September last year. In the same month, Moon filed the PIL. The case is pending. In a hearing on January 31, an advocate representing the state government had informed justices BP Dharmadhikari and Manish Pitale that Smruti Mandir had already been declared “as a place of reverence” 20-21 years ago and the particular file is being traced. The HC had postponed the hearing for three weeks.
Smruti Mandir is also the city’s 9th spot to get tourism status. As per a list of tourism spots available with the district administration, Smruti Mandir is 106th of the district. Out of earlier eight tourism spots of the city, three are water bodies — Ambazari, Gandhisagar and Sakkardara lakes. They got the status on January 6, 2001, January 25, 2009 and February 9, 2010, respectively.
Pardi Ganpati temple and Deekshabhoomi are religious places in the list. They got the status on November 6, 2006 and November 14, 2011, respectively. The other three official tourism spots are Seminary Hills (grade-I heritage hillock), Japanese Garden and Maharajbagh Zoo which were bestowed the status on November 6, 2006, January 25, 2009 and July 18, 2011, respectively.
