Pune: Bhide Wada Set To Become National Monument Following PMC's Legal Victory

In a significant legal victory, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has cleared the path for Bhide Wada to be declared a national monument. Bhide Wada holds historical significance as the birthplace of women's education in Pune, where Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule established the first girls' school on January 1, 1848, in Tatya Saheb Bhide's wada in Pune's Budhwar Peth.

On February 21, 2006, the Pune Municipal Corporation approved the transformation of Bhide Wada into a national monument. Subsequently, budget allocations were made for its restoration in subsequent years. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has welcomed the Bombay High Court's decision regarding a petition related to Bhide Wada and has directed the relevant authorities to initiate work on this memorial without delay.

The demand to make Bhidewada a national monument has been raised for several decades by various politicians, parties and even social organisations, but the matter was stuck in a legal tangle between the tenants and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).