The work will be accelerated to open war museum Dharamshala at the earliest: Minister

Dharamshala, October 5, 2018: When you enter the Smart City Dharamshala through Chandigarh Dharamshala National Highway, you are welcomed by the big hording ‘Divine Dharamshala’ and it is fixed on the side of the only War Museum of Himachal (the state known for its brave soldiers). This War Museum was inaugurated by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh few days before the last Assembly elections, but it is yet to be thrown open to the public. Food, Civil supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Kishan Kapoor , who is also the local MLA, was presiding over a meeting organized on 5 th of October in Dharamshala, to discuss the progress of the war museum and for necessary steps to be taken to make it a world class. Kapoor said, “The leaders of the previous government were in a hurry to fix their names on the inauguration plates of this museum before the state assembly election . Whereas, the museum should not have been opened , before its total completion, so that the visitors could be delivered the historic facts.” Minister instructed to accelerate the process of procuring material from various commands of the Army to display the objects of historical importance related to the wars and struggles of India in the State War Museum Dharamsala. He said that the museum will display a wide range of arms, tanks, fighter aircraft, military vehicles, etc. related to the three parts of the Indian Army. He instructed director of the Sainik Welfare Department, Brigadier(retd) S.K. Verma to speedup the work in this direction . Kapoor said that the War Museum Steering committee had requested for 45 items related to military equipment for display in the museum. “ Chief Minister Jayaram Thakur had already spoken to the Defence Minister and urged to make these items available for this museum . And on the instructions of the defence minister, the army ordered the respective command to provide these items for the museum. 31 items have been received so far , while 14 are remaining. All these things will also be brought soon,” minister added . He said that these equipment will be taken from the various commands of the three organs of the army, including Jabalpur, Hyderabad and Delhi. Kishan Kapoor said that Chief Minister Jairam Thakur has released Rs. 1 crore for the war museum and there will be no shortage of funds for its development. He reiterated the government's commitment to provide adequate staff for the operation of the museum. Minister said that it was decided in the meeting to arrange every thing required to be kept in the museum at a quick pace so that it could be made open for the public soon. He said a committee will look after the affairs and the DC Kangra been instructed about it. Kanga Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar said that money for completing the museum had been received, deliberations were going on hiring workers for running the museum. Brig (retd) SL Pathak, who was also there in the meeting said 54 arms, including a tank, HP-32 aircraft and rifles, and other war memorabilia had procured from the Army with great difficulty. It was unfortunate that these were yet to be displayed in the museum. The museum is first of its kind in the region and a fitting tribute to the martyrs, servicemen and ex-servicemen from the state, especially from Kangra district. The wooden outer structure that has been designed on the theme of old Himachali architecture by the PWD stands majestically and attracts attention of visitors in the martyrs’ park of Dharamsala. Only the first floor of the museum has been furnished with busts of war heroes from Himachal Pradesh and Kangra district, models of gallantry medals such Victoria Cross that was awarded during British India, Param Vir Chakras, Vir Chakra and other gallantry awards. The first floor of the museum also has the photos of gallantry award winners from the state.