NEW DELHI: The government has initiated the identification process of a site for a memorial dedicated to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is consulting with his family to finalise the location.
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) officials recently visited areas near the Sanjay Gandhi memorial at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal and identified several potential sites for the memorial, news agency PTI said quoting sources.
The government is in contact with the family of the former prime minister and has discussed several options for the location of the memorial, according to them.
The officials confirmed that no site has been finalised yet, and all decisions will be made in consultation with Singh’s family. Before allocating the chosen land, the Centre plans to establish a trust for managing the memorial.
The government has already conveyed its willingness to set up a memorial to the former prime minister’s family.
Singh, who spearheaded India’s economic liberalisation, passed away on December 26 at 92 years of age due to age-related health issues.
The Congress party expressed disapproval of the government’s decision to conduct his final rites at Nigambodh Ghat. The memorial plans and cremation arrangements sparked a war of words between the BJP and Congress parties.
Earlier on Saturday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the central government’s decision to conduct the cremation at Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated memorial site a “grave insult” to the former PM.
Sharing a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “The great son of Mother India and the first Prime Minister of the Sikh community, Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji, has been totally insulted by the present government by performing his last rites at Nigambodh Ghat.”
Meanwhile, the BJP called Rahul’s comments a “new low in politics of India”.
