The oil press (used to extract oil manually), operated by freedom fighter V.O. Chidambaram, will soon be open for public, after its installation at the VOC park grounds in Coimbatore.

According to a member of the VOC People Welfare Association who attended the commemoration of VOC’s 79th anniversary, the government has reportedly agreed to the request of the members to exhibit the oil mill at the VOC ground for the public. “We have been requesting the administration for long to exhibit the oil press l to public and they have finally agreed to it. It will soon be a reality,” said another member.

As a part of the commemoration, prison officials and members of various associations garlanded the oil press at the VOC Memorial inside the prison campus. ‘Kappalottiya Tamilan’ V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, who was fondly known as V.O.C, was yoked to the oil extracting press in the Coimbatore prison by the British rulers as punishment for his participation in the freedom struggle, while he was lodged there in July 1908.