The state machinery has failed to keep its deadline for restoring it to semblance of glory by Sunday, August 24, the birth centenary of the patriot.

“Not a single government function has been organised here, either on the birth or the death anniversary of Rajguru. They even ignored the centenary. We held some programmes,” said Shamrao Patwardhan, member of Hutatma Rajguru Smarak Samiti.

“Casteism was rooted in the minds of the people till such an extent that till a couple of years ago, only Bramhins used to visit the wada as Rajguru was a Brahmin. But now things seem to be looking up,” said Ashok Gurav, a resident of Rajgurunagar.

“Around ten years ago, a three-foot-wide wall of the wada crashed during a lightning strike. It has not yet been repaired. We have been cleaning the filth around the wada ourselves for years,” said Vishwanath Parkhi, one of the 150 residents who live in the Rajguru’s ancestral wada.

“Villagers did not even know till a few years ago that this was Rajguru’s ancestral wada. So even the gram panchayat decided to build toilets here, with everyone having been under the notion that the place was of no importance,” said Shailesh Raval, another member of the Hutatma Rajguru Smarak Samiti.

“Things are looking up now since the restoration work started a couple of months ago. But the pace is slow and the quality of work poor. We forced the archaeological department three times to stop their careless restoration of the room where Rajguru was born,” he added.

Swami Survadev, a visitor from Punjab, says that at Ferozpur in Punjab, the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh is a big event, attended by the Chief Minister with thousands of people participating. Sadly, he said, in Maharashtra a martyr lies forgotten.

The place had been declared a monument of national importance by the state government but whoever comes here starts criticising the place for the state it is in. “Neither District Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar nor the district collector visited this place today,” said a member of the Hutatma Rajguru Smarak Samiti.

“Around 150 people live in the wada. These people have to be given alternative land; only then can the restoration work be completed. But no alternative land has been given, so the work remains incomplete,” says Vishwanath Parkhi, one of the residents of the wada.

Work on reconstruction of the wada, which has been undertaken by the state archaeological department, has met an obstacle in the process of land acquisition. “The process is going and will take time,” an official conceded.