Sardar Patel museum in Ahmedabad mirrors utter neglect and apathy

Amid the stir over Sardar’s legacy, the Sardar Patel Museum at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is waiting for visitors and officials. The exhibition gallery has been locked for quite some time. Surprisingly, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not even aware of its current status.

The civic body set up an exhibition gallery on Sardar Patel on the first floor of AMC’s old building on the Danapith campus. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had been president of Ahmedabad Municipality. So, the old building has been renovated and declared a heritage building.

Though the museum was set up by the civic body in January 2011, it has failed to attract visitors.

Initially, it used to attract 10-15 visitors a day, mainly students. However, the gallery has been locked for quite some time now.

“There are no visitors. Moreover, the gallery was used by some lower-cadre employees and others to create nuisance. Therefore, it has been locked,” said sources in the AMC. However, it is opened only on demand.

Though BJP is trying to use Sardar Patel to extract political mileage, it does not seem to be keen on preserving his legacy. “I don’t know that the gallery is locked. If so, I will look into it and solve the problem,” said mayor Meenakshi Patel, who seemed to be in the dark about the current status of the gallery.

Similarly, AMC has not included the house near Lal Darwaza where Sardar Patel used to live in the heritage walk. The house is in a dilapidated condition.