More Tagore memorabilia, including a bank ledger, are lying neglected in Naogaoan, Sirajgonj, Kushtia and Khulna districts because of the lackadaisical attitude of the Department of Archeology.

A senior official of the Department attributed this to a shortage of manpower and funds. He said that the Department had failed to collect Tagore memorabilia and protect the Nobel laureate’s in-law's house at Fultola in Khulna district along with a charitable dispensary at Shilaidaha village in Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia district.

Tagore enthusiast M. Matiur Rahman Mamun of Patisar village in Atri upazila of Naogaon collected a rare bank ledger of Rabindranath Tagore from a college teacher Abdul Hamid on March 2009 and handed it over to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) ofNaogaon on May8,2009.

Rathindranath Institute management at Patisar had also kept some letters of Tagore's son Rathindranath for long to hand over to the Department of Archeology but the Department was unresponsive.

Field Officer and Regional Director (RD), in-charge of the Department for Rajshahi Division, Mohammad Badrul Alam said that he would send a letter soon to the DC of Naogaon to hand over the bank ledger, which was used to maintain the accounts of Patisar Agriculture Bank and Shilaidaha Kuthibari estate. The bank was founded by the poet with his Nobel Prize money in the year 1905.

“Much Tagore memorabilia is lying uncared for in several upazilas in Naogaon and adjacent districts," said

M. Matiur Rahman Mamun, who had been assigned to collect missingTagore memorabilia by the Department of Archaeology about one-and-half year ago.

A Tagore manuscript has been left uncared for in Shahzadpur Pilot High School since pre-Liberation War era, said local journalist Bimal Kundu. The poet commented during his visit to the school on January20,1890.

“I have sent an official letter to the headmaster of the school to hand over the manuscript to the Department of Archeology for preservation," said Naheed Sultana, custodian, Shahzadpur Kacharibari Museum. The headmaster had received the letter a few weeks ago but had not yet handed over the manuscript, said sources.

Locals from Shilaidaha Kuthibari and adjacent areas of Kumarkhali upazila in Kushtia destroyed many structures, including a chari-

table dispensary built by the Nobel laureate poet.

Shihabuddin Mohammad Akbar, regional director, Department of Archeology, Khulna Division said that the government had undertaken a project worth Taka 23.80 lakh for the conservation of Tagore's father-in-law's residence at Dakkhindihi in Fultola upazila of Khulna district. Meanwhile the Department spent Taka 9.50 lakh for the construction work and maintenance of the protected site. The building was constructed in 1890 and the Department declared the site as protected in2005.

Shihabuddin Mohammad Akbar confirmed that Rabindranath's greatgrandfather lived at Pitabhoge village under Rupshaha upazila in Khulna. “Most of the structure has been ruined due to the lack of awareness of the locals but there is still a chance to dig out the ground plan,” said Shihabuddin.