Rajgurunagar, a village in the district of Pune, boasts of acres of farmland, a SEZ project at Khed, a residential school founded by the Krishnamurti Foundation and of course, a proposed international airport. But it is quite unfortunate to note that the memorial to the one the village has been named after, which has been in the making for the last five years, is still showing no signs of completion.

We are talking about the Rajguru Memorial in Rajgurunagar- the memorial to freedom fighter Shivram Hari Rajguru- who sacrificed his life at the altar of Indian Independence and became a legend for the future generations. The site lies some 45 km away from Pune.

Most of the parts of Rajguru’s residence here are now in ruins. Only the room where he was born and the outhouse of the wada have been reconstructed and a wall by the side of the River Bhima has been rebuilt. The renovations of the wada came to a standstill some two years ago. Since then nothing substantial has been done in this regard.

Rajguru ensures his place among the list of the most revered heroes in the history of Indian freedom struggle. Popularly known as a colleague to Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar, who in a collective effort in 1928, eliminated the British Officer J.P. Saunders at Lahore. This was a revenge for the pathetic end of the veteran leader Lala Lajpat Rai because of the brutal lathi charge on him by the police. All the three were found guilty and sent to the gallows on March 23, 1931.

On Tuesday, August 24, Rajguru’s 101st birth anniversary was celebrated with due solemnity in the village. Rajgurunagar is a small village with the population of around 20,000. It was previously called Khed but later was renamed as Rajgurunagar keeping the memory of the martyr alive forever. Even the local organizations, the school, volunteer groups of youngsters and many shops in the market have his name. But the very attempt of having Rajguru’s residence reconstructed and erecting a memorial in his honor is moving at a snail’s pace.

In 2005 the State Government sanctioned a fund of Rs. 2 crore for the construction of this memorial and the work started speedily. The responsibility of restoring the wada its past glory was given to the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). But soon the work ground to a halt thanks to the fund crunch and shameful negligence of the State Government.

When contacted, the local residents showed their dissatisfaction with the entire process. Mr. Atul Deshmukh who is the member of the Rajguru Smarak Samiti accused that corruption has brought the noble work to a standstill.

- Yogesh Sapre