Independence Day 2026: 50 villages of tribal freedom fighters to showcase tales of valour, sacrifice

From Matho in Leh to Thondarnad in Wayanad and Vedchhi in Surat to Jorai in Assam - India is set to put 50 tribal villages on the tourism map through tales of valour and sacrifice of our tribal freedom fighters.

The Centre has identified 50 villages across India where tribal freedom fighters hailed from. The long-forgotten tales of India's freedom struggle will be curated and then recreated through museums and memorials in the villages. Before development activities are planned, baseline surveys will be conducted in the villages. This will entail collecting data on socio-economic parameters, infrastructure status including road connectivity and status of government schemes. This surveys will be followed by preparation of implementation plans. According to sources, the government plans to initiate documentation of tribal freedom fighters history, which will include oral history and traditions. Apart from development of museums and memorials, the implementation plans will include interpretation centres and other cultural infrastructure. A senior official, who did not wish to be identified, told ET, "The villages will be developed in entirety including saturation of all government schemes." About 20 lakh per village will be allocated and all government schemes will be integrated.

A beginning will be made with 11 villages. These include Bhagwan Birsa Munda's Ulihatu village in Jharkhand, Munshi Abdul Sattar's Matho (Ladakh), Raja Shankar Shah's Ram Nagar village (Madhya Pradesh), Sonakhan of Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh (Chhattisgarh), Nadimpalem village of Gam Gantam Dora (Andhra Pradesh), Kumran Bheem's Jodeghat village (Telangana), Thalakkar Chandu's Thondarnad (Kerala), Joya Taosen's Jorai (Assam), Bhagoji Naik's Nandur Shingote village (Maharashtra), Rendo Majhi's Urladani village (Odisha) and Dasharibahen Kanjinhai Chaudhari's Vedchhi (Gujarat).


The Centre has sanctioned 10 Tribal Freedom Fighter museums in different states.