NEW DELHI: The Centre has formally started the process to allot land for the memorial of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After a high level meeting on Thursday, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) shortlisted two sites on the campus of Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.
The Rashtriya Smriti Sthal is an area along the Yamuna bank, earmarked for the last rites and memorials of Presidents, Vice Presidents and PMs.
The Ministry on Thursday presented the suggestions to Singh's family, who will choose the site. After receiving confirmation from the family, land will be allocated to a trust which will be responsible for the construction and maintenance of the memorial, officials said.
“Today, a meeting was held in the ministry in which two sites in Rashtriya Smriti Sthal were identified for the memorial of former PM Singh. Subsequently, his family was also informed about the choices available. After the site visit, the family will convey the decision to the ministry thereafter the allotment will be made," the officials said adding that it may take a "week or two" to complete the process.
"It is the prerogative of the former PM’s family to work out the structure of the trust. The numbers and names of the trustees will be decided by the family members," the officials said.
The decision comes almost a week after the demise of the former prime Minister.
The BJP-led Union Government has come under fire from opposition leaders for failing to provide an authorised site for performing the last rites of Congress veteran Manmohan Singh. Singh passed away on December 26 at the age of 92. His funeral took place three days later at Nigambodh Ghat in the national capital.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called it an "insult" to Singh and his community that the first Sikh prime minister was cremated at Nigambodh Ghat and not at an authorised burial site.
The Aam Aadmi party pointed out that almost all former prime ministers were buried within the Rajghat complex but Manmohan Singh was denied this "basic courtesy."
The Centre had refused to immediately grant a burial site for Manmohan Singh despite a request from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The government said that it will allocate the space for a memorial later.
"I am writing this in the context of the sad demise of Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India. Apropos our telephonic conversation this morning, wherein I requested to hold Dr Manmohan Singh’s last rites, which will take place tomorrow i.e. 28th December 2024, at his final resting place that would be a sacrosanct venue for the memorial of the great son of India. This is in keeping with such tradition of having memorials of statesmen and former Prime Ministers at the very place of their funerals," Kharge had written in a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs requesting a burial site for Manmohan Singh.
MHA later released a statement explaining that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had communicated to Kharge that the government will allocate space for the memorial.
The Government of India had in 2000 resolved not to allow separate memorials for dignitaries near Rajghat given the scarcity of space as more than 240 acres of prime land in the city had been taken over to build separate samadhis of national leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Zail Singh and Rajiv Gandhi.
However, land for the common memorial site--Rashtriya Smriti Sthal—flanked by the Ring Road and Yamuna—was assigned 13 years later.