NEW DELHI: After missing a couple of deadlines, the Prime Ministers' Museum at the Teen Murti Bhavan complex is likely to be inaugurated this month; possibly on December 25, which is the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The day is also observed as Good Governance Day.
Union culture and tourism minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday told The Morning Standard that instructions to complete remaining work had been issued and he would visit the site to oversee the progress next week.
"Instructions have already been given to speed up the work. I visited the site to review the progress a few days ago. Collections to be displayed at the museum are also being sourced. The project should be completed by the end of this month. We have regularly been monitoring the project. I will visit the site again next week. It may tentatively be opened on December 25. But this is not an official confirmation," said the minister.
The museum, dedicated to all the former PMs of the country with a cost of Rs 271 crore, was approved in 2018. Being built on a 10,000-square metre piece of land adjacent to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in Teen Murti Bhavan, the museum will have exhibits related to the former PMs such as rare photographs, speeches, video clips, newspapers, interviews and original writings on display. The facility was scheduled to open in October 2020. However, a coronavirus pandemic and other issues delayed the project.
The officials said that the process to finalise concessionaire to set up and operate a café and souvenir at the museum is already under progress. The government has also started looking for curators for the facility.
Teen Murti Bhavan was built in the 1930s by the British administration. Later, it served as the official residence of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. He stayed there till 1964.