'Don't spend on memorial events'

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked the government to avoid unnecessary expenditure on functions organised at memorials of different leaders in the capital.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked the government to avoid unnecessary expenditure on functions organised at memorials of different leaders in the capital.

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The letter, addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was written by Gandhi last month, who is currently abroad for a routine medical check-up, sources said.

The Congress president wanted the government to take steps to ensure that there was minimum inconvenience to the public on such occasions, said a party leader.

"The import of the letter is that the expenditure on such programmes should be minimised. Gandhi wanted that instead of creating a pomp and show, it will be better if sincere people go there out of genuine feelings," the leader said.

Official functions are organised on the birth and death anniversaries at a number of memorials in New Delhi including Rajghat (Mahatma Gandhi), Veerbhumi (Rajiv Gandhi), Shanti Van (Jawaharlal Nehru), Shakti Sthal (Indira Gandhi) and Vijay Ghat (Lal Bahadur Shastri).

Criticism has been mounting on the government on tax-payers money being spent on advertisements and other functions to mark birth and death anniversaries of leaders.