Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget announcement on Sunday (February 1, 2026) to develop Hisar’s Rakhigarhi, the largest Harappan site in the Indian sub-continent, into “vibrant, experiential cultural destination” was met with scepticism, instead of celebration, with the villagers claiming that little work had been carried at the site in the wake of a similar announcement in the Union Budget for 2020-21.
In her Union Budget 2020-21 speech, Ms. Sitharaman had announced that five archaeological sites would be developed as iconic sites with on-site Museums --.Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Hastinapur (Uttar Pradesh) Shivsagar (Assam), Dholavira (Gujarat) and Adichanallur (Tamil Nadu). The locals broke into celebrations following the announcement back then hoping that it will put their village on the international map and create job opportunities for the youth.
However, five years down the line, the locals claim that the progress made on the project was “very slow”.
Ward No. 28 Zila Parishad member and former Rakhigarhi Sarpanch Dinesh Sheoran said they did not distribute sweets this time unlike the previous occasion as they had little hope. “It has been five years since the earlier announcement, but little work has been done by the Archaeological Survey of India to develop this village as an iconic site. Only a shed has been erected on mound no. 4, a 500 sq yards land parcel, and a boundary wall constructed in 1996 was painted,” he claimed.
