Historic Chadwick House in Shimla gets makeover as CAG museum

SHIMLA: Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has converted Chadwick House - the Shimla residence of former maharaja of Kapurthala where Mahatma Gandhi stayed when he came to attend the Cabinet Mission meeting in 1946 for transfer of power from the British - as its first museum with a collection of rare artefacts, including a 1907 table and chair used by C V Raman, the only Indian to get a Nobel in Physics.
Raman had a brief stint as an assistant accountant general at CAG's Kolkata office. Though the original table is yet to be brought from Kolkata, Raman's life-size statue has been put on display with a similar table and chair.
Inaugurated last week by CAG G C Murmu, Chadwick House is one the most modern museums in India and the first for the federal auditor in 164 years of its history. Among the exhibits is Chanakya's lifesize statue in a sitting posture, writing the Arthashastra, the first written document on the principles of accounting.
The supreme auditor has a 75-year-long ties with the historic building. It was Chadwick House where the first batch of audit and accounts service probationers held their training, Murmu said.
The museum showcases audit heritage from evolution, achievements to important milestones achieved. Chadwick House provides audio-video interactive displays of artefacts with graphic panels and QR code to access information that gives a glimpse of the audit institution since 1860 when it came into being.
The CAG renovated the building after taking it over from the I&B ministry. Chadwick House was constructed by a British national in the 1880s and was bought by Maharaja of Kapurthala Sardar Charanjit Singh in 1904. He often hosted Gandhi in this house.
"During the freedom struggle, Chadwick House was a favoured residence of Mahatma Gandhi while in Shimla from where he also addressed the public. In 1946, during his visit here for the Cabinet Mission discussions, once again the father of the nation stayed in Chadwick," Murmu said.