Manmohan Singh’s family gives go-ahead for his memorial
The late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s family visited the plot for the memorial at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal near Delhi’s Rajghat
The late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s family has given consent for his memorial after visiting the plot for it at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal near Delhi’s Rajghat, a member of the family told HT.
Singh, the architect of India’s economic liberalisation, passed away on December 26, 2024. A decision to limit the land for memorials of leaders of significance at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal was taken at a Cabinet meeting Singh chaired in 2013.
The government accepted the Congress demand for Singh’s memorial after a controversy over his funeral at Delhi’s Nigambodh Ghat. The Congress said it was unsuitable for the funeral of a leader of Singh’s stature.
The Union housing and urban affairs ministry’s land and development office is in charge of much of the land on which memorials have been built. The Central Public Works Department will build Singh’s memorial.
The ministry did not hear from Singh’s family for over two months over concerns about the nature of the memorial even though the land parcel for it was finalised.
The memorial to the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was built in 2018 after a trust for it was formed. The government has also approved a memorial to former president Pranab Mukherjee, who died in August 2020, at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal adjoining the Yamuna. Memorials to former Prime Ministers and presidents are at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.
