Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy said the Central government recognises the role of ‘Manyam Hero’ Alluri Sitarama Raju's role in the freedom movement and the museum being constructed at a cost of ₹38 crore at Lambasingi in Visakhapatnam district will be completed this year.
He said the Centre has sanctioned ₹18 crore for construction of Alluri Sitarama Raju's museum in Hyderabad as well and ₹1 crore of this has already been released. He was speaking at the 175th birth celebrations of the freedom-fighter in the city on Sunday.
Mr. Reddy urged the Tourism Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Srinivas Goud and Avanti Srinivas Rao, present at the programme, to complete the construction of the museums at the earliest, apart from celebrating India’s loved son on a large scale and teach his heroics to the younger generation.
Earlier, the Ministers felicitated veteran film actor Ghattamaneni Krishna, who donned the role of Alluri Sitarama Raju in the epic movie released in the late 70s. He said he was a fan of actor Krishna during his childhood and in fact learned much about the freedom fighter through the film that was a runaway hit.
He said that the Centre has decided to honour freedom fighters as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate 75 years of Indian Independence. He said his Ministry is trying to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the programme to be organised on Alluri Sitarama Raju at Vignana Bhavan in New Delhi.
Mr Reddy said he will visit Mogallu village, the birth place of Alluri Sitarama Raju, on January 13.
Telangana Tourism Minister Srinivas Goud said that the state government respects freedom struggle heroes, and the statue of Alluri Sitarama Raju would be erected in Kompally area in consultation with Municipal Administration Minister K. T. Rama Rao.
Film actor Krishna went down the memory lane to reveal how well the movie was accepted by the people and how it got him special respect among the Telugu people. Film actor Mohan Babu was among others who were present.
