Fight for building memorials on public property in India

Recent agitation by RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) and its sister organizations to convert a government bungalow into a memorial for former prime minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh has created a lot of controversy. This incident initiated a fresh debate on whether we need any more memorials at the cost of public money and space in India. This is the same bungalow where Ajit Singh used to live as an MP recently and where his father (Charan Singh) also lived for most of his political career. This is not the first demand to convert any bungalow or government property into a memorial of some political leader. It has been done in the past by various political parties and governments to honor their own leaders, they use public money and property to do this. There are several memorials for all politicians from the Nehru-Gandhi family (Pundit Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi). There are memorials for politicians like Jagjivan Ram, Kanshi Ram, and MGR. The list is too long to include here but I guess readers got the point that I want to illustrate here. In India, there are several statues of so many leaders, and there are various buildings, roads, and gardens named after these leaders, these things are built using public money and land. So in that respect, this demand of having one more memorial for Charan Singh doesn't sound unreasonable.

But the real question here is, does a country like India need any more memorials and can it afford to have so many of them? With so many political parties and so many popular leaders in different parts of the country, there will be always a demand to build some memorial for some leader. Wastage of public money and land will continue forever if no one tries to stop this practice. Once we allow one political party to build a memorial for their leader at the cost of public money then it is very difficult to stop others from doing the same. This is what happening right now. Charan Singh memorial supporters are asking the same question, so many leaders have their memorial in Delhi then why not one for Charan Singh also? I am sure it will be difficult to convenience them, but this trend needs to stop. The government should make some rule that no more memorials will be allowed in anyone's name from now onwards, no matter which family, or party the person belongs. No more memorials at the cost of public money and property, period. If any political party wants to build a memorial for their beloved leader, let them spend their own money. No more public money for such projects.

Why not have a common memorial place for all former prime ministers? Teen Murti Bhawan in New Delhi can be converted into such a place. Every former prime minister can have a place there and we can pay tribute to all of them in one place. Why a separate building for a memorial for each one of them? Space is very limited in all Indian metro cities, it is a serious problem in big cities like New Delhi and Mumbai. Why waste the land to build memorials when we need more schools and hospitals? The amount of money that is being spent on maintaining these memorials is another issue. The recent successful Mars Orbiter Mission cost around Rs. 450 crores, if we compare the amount of money that was spent or is proposed to be spent to make some of these memorials then we can understand the futility of building them. For example, a statue of BSP leader Mayawati (~680 crores), and a proposed memorial for Sardar Patel (~2600 crores), these figures are way higher than the cost of the MOM mission. This is a classic case of misplaced priorities. I fail to understand why these people think that it is a good idea to waste public money like this? The time has come to put an end to this memorial feast at the cost of public money, I hope the current government takes a tough stance on this issue and sets a good precedence.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:

1. Why no memorial for Chaudhary Charan Singh, asks Ajit Singh