The process of allotting land for a memorial dedicated to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take some more time, as the government awaits the establishment of a trust. Only after the trust is registered can the land be officially allocated, sources confirmed. Preliminary assessments of land near Rajghat are underway, but the formal application for land allotment will follow the creation of the trust, similar to the process followed for Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s memorial.
Trust Registration and Land Allotment Process
Sources familiar with the matter explained that the government can earmark land for a memorial but cannot proceed with the construction until a trust is registered. In the case of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s memorial, the Atal Samiti Nyas (Trust) was registered over a month after his death. The trust then applied for land and an MoU was signed with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for the construction of his samadhi.
The procedures for Manmohan Singh’s memorial will follow a similar pattern. The government is looking at available land parcels near Rajghat, with preliminary assessments being carried out to finalize the location. However, until the trust is officially formed and registered, the land allocation process cannot move forward.
Process Similar to Vajpayee’s Memorial
When former PM Vajpayee passed away in August 2018, his memorial at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal was developed after the Atal Samiti Nyas was set up. This trust was responsible for the memorial’s design, which was created by the School of Planning and Architecture, and funding for the project was provided by the trust to the CPWD. Vajpayee’s memorial occupies 1.5 acres of land, a size that is expected to be the benchmark for Singh’s memorial as well.
Sources have indicated that the government is looking at land options in the Raj Ghat area, with 1 to 1.5 acres being considered for the memorial. It typically takes four to five days to register a trust, and once that process is complete, the trust can apply for the land allocation.
Status of Memorial Efforts
As of now, Congress has not provided any new updates on the progress of the memorial. However, it is clear that the land allotment for Manmohan Singh’s memorial will be a procedure that closely mirrors past practices, especially the establishment of memorials for previous leaders. The delay is mainly due to the trust registration process, but once this is completed, the memorial’s construction is expected to follow quickly.
In the Raj Ghat complex, there are currently 19 memorials dedicated to former presidents, prime ministers, and deputy prime ministers. However, exceptions to this rule include memorials for figures like Sanjay Gandhi and Lalita Shastri, the late wife of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri.
