TEZPUR, May 1 ? Coinciding with the centenary celebration of the cultural icon Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, the Sonitpur district administration has decided to renovate ?Poki?, the ancestral home of Rupkonwar and popularly known as Jyoti Bharati on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra through the MP fund, said Sri Sanjoy Lohiya, Deputy Commissioner Sonitpur. Talking to this correspondent, Sri Lohiya said that the State PWD deportment has been entrusted to submit an estimate and added that Rs 2 lakh has been sanctioned as an initial grant for renovation. Besides that a new committee with leading citizens of Tezpur has been formed to monitor the works, he added.
Built in the heart of Tezpur town the ancestral home where Rupkonwar weaved his dreams today is in a dilapidated condition due to utter negligence of the Assam Government and its cultural wing. The entire area was once a den for anti-social elements and people even used the area for nature calls when it was closed for longer period. Constructed by late Hari Bilas Agarwala in 1876, the construction work of Poki started in 1874 and took almost two years to compete the (60 feet length, 70 ft breadth and 18ft high) building. Although the major earthquake of 1879 and 1950 has done no damage to the historic building, but after the take over of the entire plot in 1977 by the Assam Government from the famous Agarwala family, the historical building is today in such condition that its roof may collapse any moment as no repair work has been undertaken till date to renovate the building.
Official sources said in 1978, the cultural deportment of Assam set up its office at Poki and converted it into Jyoti Bharati, a centre for Jyoti cultural research centre. As time passed lack of proper maintenance have landed the centre in a sorry state and today it is functioning under broken roof and damp walls. Original tracks and records including photographs of Rupkonwar, Kalaguru Bishnu Rabha and others have been destroyed. The harmonium, bed, books, diary, letters, kurta (cloth) etc used by Rupkonwar and donated to the State Government by the family members are today in the worst condition due to unscientific preservation, the sources said adding that a present fungus covered records of Rupkonwar are played in functions due to the non-availability of AC rooms. Even the employees are deprived of their salaries for months, they alleged.
Sources further said that in February 21, 1994, the then Chief Minister late Hiteswar Saikia laid a foundation stone here at Jyoti Bharati for opening of a recording studio and for a multi-purpose cultural project and an amount of Rs 5 lakh was sanctioned by the Government. However till date nothing has been done and the said amount is still lying with the recurring deposit of the Public Works Department (Education) despite the fact that the PWD in 1992 submitted an estimate of Rs 7 lakh to the Government to renovate the historic building which may collapse any moment.
When this correspondent contacted Smt Meena Agarwala, recipient of Janaki Devi Bajaj award and Rupkonwar?s brother?s wife painfully lamented that it was the wrong decision of the family to hand over Poki to the Government with all valuable belongings of Rupkonwar as the Government failed to preserve it. It may be mentioned that Poki apart from its cultural activities played an important role in the freedom struggle and in 1921 the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi addressed a public meeting at Poki and burnt the foreign cloths. Veteran leaders of India like Moti Lal Nehru, VJ Patel, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Raja Gopalacharya, Thakar Bapa, Rangaya Aiyanger, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru etc all stayed here at Poki time and again during the freedom movement at Tezpur.
After his return from abroad after completing his education in 1930 Jyoti Prasad joined the freedom movement and it was here at Poki he started writing patriotic songs for the freedom movement and was jailed for 21 months. Apart from the Joimoti, the first modern Assamese film script, selection of artists and other things all started from Poki. Further in 1942 Quit India Movement, Poki once again became the nerve centre where freedom fighters like Hem Baruah, Amiya Kumar Das, Lakhidhar Sharma, Bijoy Chandra Bhagawati and others discussed their action plans. Meanwhile the decision of the Sonitpur district administration to renovate the Poki has been welcomed by all and people of Tezpur has assured toe extend all possible help in preserving the historic buildings before it fades aways.