Satyagraha Soudha, located adjacent to the Mysore-Bangalore Highway in Shivapura in the Maddur taluk of Mandya District is one of the monuments which we have forgotten to take care of.

Declared open on 26th September 1979, Satyagraha Soudha was built to commemorate Shivapura flag satyagraha that was held as part of the freedom struggle in 1938.

Shivapura flag satyagraha was organised by Mysore congress in Shivapura during April 1938 to assert the right to hoist the National flag. The right was banned and had been declared by the then Government of the Maharaja of Mysore as seditious.

Thousands of patriotic satyagrahis observed satyagraha and were arrested there. Mahatma Gandhi complimented the satyagrahis for their commitment to the cause and worked out a compromise between the Mysore congress and the Maharaja, establishing the flag hoisting right.

In order to commemorate this historic moment was the Satyagraha Soudha built by the Government of Karnataka in 1979 under the guidance of the Trust headed by Kengal Hanumanthaiya, the architect of Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore.

Of course, that was a golden moment to remember. But, what is the status of the said Soudha in Shivapura today? It is just pathetic and totally neglected. If we enter the Soudha premises today, there is no evidence whatsoever of the Shivapura flag satyagraha, except for some writing on the foundation stone.

Fungus formatted in the centre dome of the hall, water leakages when raining, missing doors, broken window panes and the lack of cleanliness. To top it all, there is no board to indicate the name of the place and its importance.

A 'D' group employee is deputed to look after the Soudha from 8 am to 5 pm, and after that, the Soudha has no one to take care of it.

 According to residents staying closeby, the Soudha becomes home to drunken men in the night when illegal activities also take place. Playing cards and condoms found all over the place support this fact.

Though the Soudha had a board earlier, it was taken off when the building was painted a few months ago. But, to this day, the PWD, in-charge of the building, has not got the board fixed back. At the same, photos of various leaders and freedom fighters, which was taken off the walls, are still lying in the department office in Maddur, according to an employee.

Moreover, no programme is held in the auditorium, except for the flag hoisting function on August 15 every year.

In fact, the State Government during S M Krishna’s regime had decided to construct Satyagraha Soudha Annexe at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. The said Annexe, though almost complete, is still not officially declared open. Already a few items belonging to the building like doors and granite stones have been stolen.

The Satyagraha Soudha premises has a lot of space outside, which can be developed as a garden. Sadly, nobody seems to have given it a thought. On the contrary, this huge space has been converted into an open toilet.

Though Mandya District In-charge Minister Cheluvarayaswamy and Deputy Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad visited the spot and took note of the situation, no action has yet been taken on the maintenance front.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad said, “After the inspection, we released Rs 22 lakh to the PWD towards the Soudha’s maintenance work, while the PWD already has about Rs 11 lakh. Totally, Rs 33 lakh is available for development work, and I have instructed the officials concerned to speed up the work.”

“In addition, we also have a project worth Rs 6 crore that focuses on the overall development and maintenance work of the Soudha. We will submit the same to the Government soon,” he said.

One can never be sure as to when this project will see the light of day. Will the Government, and the PWD in particular, take some action atleast now? Or, is another satyagraha needed to force the authorities to get into action?