Chandigarh, July 28 -- Lying forgotten in the basement of the TS Central State Library, Sector 17, the National Gallery of Portraits, a tribute to India's freedom struggle, is crying for attention.

Opened in 1977, the gallery houses 41 panels of oil paintings and murals, and sculptures of national leaders, tracing the country's fight for independence from the 1700s to the 1900s. But today, it stands as a crumbling reflection of official apathy, passed on from department to department, yet left abandoned and deprived of even basic upkeep.

As a result, despite its location in the heart of Chandigarh and free entry, the gallery barely draws visitors. On Saturday, operational between 10 am and 5 pm, the gallery saw only one visitor by 3 pm....