Dr Rajendra Prasad's(First President India) ancestral house lies forgotten in the narrow lanes of Ziradei

Just like several other historical monuments in Bihar, even the ancestral house of freedom fighter and India’s first president Dr Rajendra Prasad (13.05.1952 to 13.05.1957 and 13.05.1957 to 13.05.1962)is yet to become a major tourist attraction

Dr Rajendra Prasad was born in Ziradei village of Siwan district and his house where he spent his early years is well preserved but both the Centre and the state government have failed to showcase it as one of the top tourist attractions of the country
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Located at a distance of about 15 kilometers from Siwan town, Ziradei is an overgrown village with narrow lanes, dirty streets and lacks civic amenities.

The house has been taken over by the Archeological Survey of India but there is hardly anything inside to remind visitors that it belongs to one of the greatest sons of India.

 

His family members, too, who are now settled outside Siwan don’t bother to visit the house. There are only two dates when the house sees a flurry of dignitaries. Once on his birth anniversary which is on December 3 and the other is his death anniversary on February 28.

 

But two days of token remembrance hardly do justice to a person who brought name and fame to Ziradei.

There is a school abutting the house but the students are not fully aware of the significance of the place. Even the name of the school has been spelt incorrectly and when pointed out, a teacher sheepishly blames the painter who did the job.