CUTTACK: The Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Birthplace Museum’s galleries devoted to the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (PGAH) are set to don a new look as the process to modernize them is almost complete. “The galleries will be fully ready for visitors before the 122nd birth anniversary of Netaji on January 23,” curator of the museum J P Das said on Thursday.The start of the modernization process had coincided with the hoisting of the tricolour by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Red Fort in New Delhi on October 21, 2018, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Azad Hind government. Netaji had formed the provisional government of Azad Hind on October 21, 1943. He had declared his decision to wage war against the British and its allies on October 23, 1943, from the radio station of the Azad Hind.Four out of the museum’s 12 galleries are devoted to the PGAH. They were opened for the first time on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Netaji on January 23, 2010. “We have now upgraded the interiors, with panelling of the artefacts on display in all four galleries and given them a new look,” Das told TOI.“The galleries show how the provisional government established the National Bank of Azad Hind and minted its own coins and currency. They try to give the visitors an insight into how the National Bank of Azad Hind and Azad Hind Radio were functioning as part of Netaji’s Provisional Government of Azad Hind,” Das said.Gallery 7 has records on display that show how Netaji had formed the provisional government of Azad Hind. Gallery 5 is on the National Bank of Azad Hind and it showcases rare currency notes and coins of Netaji’s provisional government. According to the records displayed in the gallery, the Azad Hind Bank was established in Rangoon in April 1944. The money collected by the Azad Hind Government was kept there.Galleries 6 and 8 are devoted to the Indian National Army (INA) and the Azad Hind Radio. They tell the little-known story of how the radio service was started by Netaji in Germany on January 7, 1942, ‘to unite Indians to fight for freedom’ and its headquarters shifted to Singapore and later to Rangoon following war in southeast Asia.The famous declarations of Netaji that were broadcast by the four radio stations that functioned under the propaganda and publicity department of the Azad Hind Government are some of the major attractions at the museum.

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