The proposal to set up a national museum at the ‘Swatantra Samara Soudha’, in memory of freedom fighters who were lodged in the open-air jail, has been revived. The building was ready but there was no progress in collecting documents and records and contacting the Tamil Nadu Archives to obtain jail records during the past four years.
The project cost is estimated at Rs. 35 lakh, of which the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has agreed to contribute Rs. 20 lakh.
To speed up the process, Deputy Commissioner Sameer Shukla has constituted a new committee to take up the task.
The new committee is headed by Director Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Science (VIMS), with Assistant Commissioner, Assistant Directors of Kannada and Culture and Tourism, P. Satyanarayan Rao, Tekur Ramanath, son of Ballari’s first MP Tekur Subramanyam, T.G. Vittal of Gandhi Bhavan, Kolachalam Anantprakash, Vijay P.Tamband, Registrar of Kannada University Hampi, as its members. Bellary was a prominent place during the British period, especially after it was annexed to the then Madras Presidency in 1800. Allipur open-air jail was set up in 1922 to lodge political prisoners in multiple ways, including solitary confinement.
Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), Kamaraj Nadar, Potti Sriramulu, Bulusu Sambamurthy, T.V. Subbashetty, Ghantasala Venkateshwara Rao (renowned playback singer), Bhagat Singh's followers, Mahaveer Singh, Gaya Prasad and Bhatukeshwara Dutta, Mapla rebellion leaders from Kerala, were among the popular freedom fighters to have been incarcerated at the Allipur jail during the freedom movement.
During the post independence period, the entire area of the open air jail was used to establish the Government Medical College. A couple of years back, the government demolish the ancient building and construct new one in its place.
