PM to inaugurat Hi-Tech museum tomorrow to mark 4 yrs of Prez Pranab Mukherjee in office
24 July, New Delhi
In order to commemorate the completion of four years in office by President Pranab Mukherjee on July 26, a number of functions are being organised at President’s house- Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Addressing mediapersons, Secretary to the President Amita Paul said, ”Among all other functions, the major one is the inauguration of Phase-II of Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it tomorrow, accompanied by President Pranab Mukherjee and a host of other dignitaries. A booklet on the occasion will also be released by the PM thereafter.
The President asked the doors of the Rashtrapati Bhawan to be open to public and called it a “smart township”.
Ms Paul said, ”Rashtrapati Bhavan is the office-cum-residence of the President. We have drawn a comprehensive plan for the maintenance and management of the Bhavan. There were garages, stables and petrol pumps at the premises earlier and we were strictly asked to maintain and restore the heritage structures and composure of the place.”We are reaching fruition. The Pranab Mukherjee Public Library is ready and we have been able to restore the clock towers. Two years ago, we commissioned stable museum and jewel in the crown is the ”structure museum,” which will be inaugurated by the PM tomorrow.
”Our project was divided into three phases. The first dealt with clock towers, the second one was about stables and the third phase was concerning garages,” she added.
Talking about the museum, the Secretary said, ”It is a unique museum and is virtually underground. It is the first Sankal museum in the country. We could not go for high rise, therefore, it was built underground. ”
It has many unique features. The hi-tech and censor-based museum with a plethora of paintings, is the first green museum in the nation. It is a massive building, built in more than one lakh sq mt area. Upper basement is called the Presidential floor. Freedom movement and its struggle has been elaborately depicted in the museum with selected important events given prominence.
”New twenty gadgetry is placed in the upper basement. The lower basement consists of paintings, which are protected from direct light falling on them by installing censors. It’s an event based museum, a story telling museum directly linked with history. ”For example, one can relate to the ”feeling” of Gandhi-Irwin pact of 1931 between Gandhiji and Lord Irwin, being signed in digital form. It also depicts life in Rashtrapati Bhavan from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn, 365 days a year.”The fully computerised, first of its kind museum was constructed at a cost of Rs 80 crore. We made provision for futuristic museum. Incorporating past and present history of India is the major feature of design of the structure,” Ms Paul informed the media.
The museum will be thrown open to public on October 2, this year for six days a week and charges will be Rs 50 per person. There would be a dedicated gate and people would be ferried to and fro from that gate to the museum.
The Secretary said the team had worked hard on the project and their main aim of restoring the heritage value of the structure and maintaining its spirit of “humane township” had been fulfilled along the way.