kanpur the historic pratap press building is facing tough times these days this archaeological monument is lying in utter neglect and need immediate attention this building is on the list of historical monuments of indian national trust of art culture and heritage intach it is being encroached by more than 100 families who are living there for more than five decades in the list of 250 most desirable historical monuments in and around the city that are identified by intach pratap press is on the second place this ancient monument with the first kind of printing machine old style of writing and above all the articles written by great revolutionaries like bhagat singh ganesh shanker vidyarthi chandra shekhar azad and many more is lying in shambles it has become a mute spectator to all the malpractices and meeting point of the antisocial elements however many printing machines and papers have already been stolen pratap press is now waiting for court verdict which would declare its real owner a good and efficient administration conducive to the welfare of the people prevention of social evils and persecutions encouragement of propagation of selfdependence and strong faith in selfrule was the motto of pratap sp singh head of the department of history christ church college said talking about ganesh shanker vidyarthi the founder of pratap singh said vidyarthi was closely associated with mahatma gandhi jawaharlal nehru bhagat singh chandra shekhar and became an active member of the indian national congress and the home rule movement in 1920 through his paper vidyarthi vehemently criticised the government and the zamindars for which he was arrested on charges of spreading unrest in 1923 he was rearrested for his speech delivered at the fatehpur district political conference and released in january 1924 he was a chairman of the reception committee of the all india congress committee session 1925 at kanpur a member of the up legislative council 192629 president of the up political conference held at farrukhabad 1929 and president of the up congress committee 1930 in march 1931 communal riots flared up in kanpur vidyarthi tried his best to restore communal peace and harmony but was killed on march 25 1931 while visiting an affected area ganesh shanker was a journalist with a forceful clear and simple style he deplored social and moral degradation of the indian people and wanted laws to be passed to check social evils he wanted to check beggary rehabilitate the prostitutes prevent young boys from being trained as ascetics and improve the condition of women he was opposed to the powerful impact of western civilisation which made indian intellectuals slaves of foreign culture singh added he urged to declare this dilapidated building as a national monument so that the district administration and organizations like intac and archaeological survey of india can maintain it ironically the site earmarked as heritage building is being ignored by organisations who claim to be working for preserving the legacy of the past the main reason for its