Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh donates 3,500 books, memorabilia to Panjab University

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has donated 3,500 books and memorabilia from his personal library to Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh.

The university will make arrangements to transport books and memorabilia from New Delhi to the varsity campus.

Reeta Grewal, professor, department of history, said, “The 3,500 books and memorabilia, which include photographs and paintings, will be housed in Guru Teg Bahadur Bhawan. Until the place is ready for the installation, books and memorabilia will be kept in the main library.”

Grewal said that Guru Teg Bahadur Bhawan which is located inside PU-Institute of Social Science Education and Research (ISSER) was originally planned as a museum. It has three separate and interconnected floors. The area is beautifully designed to have natural light on all the three floors from above, as a typical archival structure.

She said, “Guru Teg Bahadur Bhawan was built three years ago but it had been empty. Now it will be used to house Manmohan Singh’s personal library and other such possible donations.”

She added, “Chandigarh College of Architecture (CCA) is working in association with PU to design the interior so that the originally personal library of Manmohan Singh is replicated here.”

She further stated that it will be developed as a library where there would be a reading area where anybody can come and have a look at the material.

Manmohan Singh to deliver memorial lecture

The former Prime Minister, who is an alma mater of PU, will be delivering Prof SB Rangnekar Memorial Lecture on April 11 at the university. The topic of his lecture is ‘The 70th anniversary of our independence – Strengthening the roots of our democracy.’ The security arrangements for it are under progress on the campus.

Singh was a student of Panjab University after the campus had shifted to India after Partition. He studied in the department of economics under Panjab University at Government College, Hoshiarpur, where he completed his masters in 1954. He has also been a faculty member of the university.