Museum on PMs at Teen Murti Estate off to a start, ministers perform ground breaking ceremony

NEW DELHI: Moving ahead with its plan to build the Museum on Prime Ministers of India despite opposition from some members of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society, the government on Monday performed the ‘bhoomi poojan’ and the ground breaking ceremony for the new museum at the Teen Murti lawns.

The project, being jointly executed by the ministries of culture and urban development, is expected to be completed in about one year from the date of commission. The government has already approved the design for the proposed museum. Identification of the executing agency, the one that will build the museum, is expected to be completed through a tender process in the next two to three months. Construction of the museum is expected to begin early next year.

The ‘bhoomi poojan’ was performed by culture minister Mahesh Sharma and urban development minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Congress leaders who are members of the NMML Society, and have continued to oppose NMML lending its name to the construction of the museum on the Teen Murti Estate, the erstwhile home of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, were not invited for Monday’s programme.

The NMML and the Teen Murti Estate have been at the centre of a protracted battle between the Congress and the BJP government. The Congress has continued to oppose the museum alleging the Modi government’s wilful attempts to dilute Nehru’s legacy. In August, even former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lent his support to Congress’ efforts to “protect” the “nature and character” of NMML, and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to leave the Teen Murti complex “undisturbed” and saying that Jawaharlal Nehru did not belong to the Congress alone, but to the entire nation.

Sharma, however, clarified on Monday that NMML as well as the Teen Murti Estate are government property, and cited a government rule from the year 2000 which says that no house or bungalow occupied by a Prime Minister will be converted into a museum. “Currently, we only have memorials dedicated to three Prime Ministers of India - Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. This museum will accommodate 14 Prime Ministers, including PM Modi, who have served India and will bring to life their life, times and their contribution to building India,” Sharma said.

The Teen Murti Estate is built over 25.5 acres of land, of which the NMML occupies about 2.5 acres. The new museum building, the government said, will be a state-of-the-art structure built over three floors over 11,000 sqm and is expected to cost the government Rs 271 crore.