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PMs’ museum shows ordinary people can rise to top job: Modi
The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya is housed in the Teen Murti Bhavan in central Delhi, covers 10,491 sq ft and includes the Nehru museum as a tribute to India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated a museum in Delhi showcasing the lives and legacies of India’s 14 prime ministers, highlighting the collective heritage of each government in creating and strengthening the country’s democracy and hoping the sprawling display will inspire the country’s young.
The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya is housed in the Teen Murti Bhavan in central Delhi, covers 10,491 sq ft and includes the Nehru museum as a tribute to India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The museum, which has been in the making since 2016, has 43 galleries and state-of-the-art technology to create an immersive experience for the public. Each prime minister has been accorded a gallery marking key points in their tenure, with objects and possessions used by them on display.
“Barring a couple of exceptions, India has a proud tradition of strengthening democracy in a democratic way,” Modi said. “Every government formed in independent India has contributed in taking the country to the height it is at today. I have repeated this thing many times from Red Fort as well.”
He said that it remains a matter of pride for Indians that most of the country’s prime ministers have come from humble backgrounds. “Coming from a remote countryside, from a very poor family, coming from a farmer’s family, reaching the post of prime minister, this strengthens the faith in the great traditions of Indian democracy,” Modi said.
The event, which coincided with the 131st birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, Modi said the museum has become “a living reflection of the shared heritage of each government”. “To remember them is to know the journey of independent India. People coming here will be familiar with the contribution of the former Prime Ministers of the country, their background, their struggles and creations,” he said.
The PM stressed India’s core democratic values. “The great feature of India’s democracy is that it has been continuously changing with the passage of time. In every era, in every generation, there has been a continuous effort to make democracy more modern and empowered,” he said. “That’s why we also have an obligation to keep strengthening democracy with our efforts.”
There were more than 150 people in attendance at the event, including several senior government officials, Union ministers, as well as the families of former prime ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao, HD Deve Gowda, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Morarji Desai and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
“Happy to have represented the family at the inauguration of the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalay in Delhi today. This modern museum is a fantastic tribute to all of India’s former prime ministers,” said Madhukeshwar Desai, the great grandson of former PM Morarji Desai.
Asserting that India is the mother of democracy, the PM said India’s democracy has been changing with time. “In every era, in every generation, there has been a continuous effort to make democracy more modern, empowered,” he said. At a time when the country is celebrating 75 years of its Independence, this museum has come as a great inspiration, Modi added.
The museum, built at a cost of ₹271 crore, offers many firsts -- tech tools to allow people to click selfies with their favorite PM and take virtual walks, a machine that recounts India’s nuclear journey, an automated pen that can customise a letter from one of the former leaders -- all part of a section called Anubhuti. The winding corridors that scale some of the galleries contain several key milestones in India’s journey since 1994, with pictorial representations and text. At the entry are portraits of all the leaders, with Nehru on one side and Modi on the other. The first gallery contains snippets from India’s freedom struggle, with Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose featured. This is followed by a section on Indian Presidents.
In his speech, Modi urged everyone to visit the museum, especially calling the youth to understand their history better. “Today, when a new world order is emerging, the world is looking at India with a hope and confidence, then India will also have to increase its efforts to rise up to the occasion,” he said.
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library director Nripendra Mishra said that Modi urged them to develop the museum in a way that it will further India’s unity. “The museum is in work in progress at this stage,” he said. “Dr BR Ambedkar, whose birth anniversary this museum is being inaugurated on, gave India the Constitution that brings together the people of this country and fosters unity and success. This museum will be known as a house of democracy,” he said.
