The Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF) has been served with a fresh notice by the Ministry of Housing and Urban development to vacate its offices located within the Teen Murti Complex, as reported by Times of India.
A show cause notice was issued to the JNMF on Oct 15, giving a week’s time to appear for a hearing before the Directorate of Estates (DoE). The ministry had issued an eviction notice to the JNMF on September 11 charging that the entity was in unauthorised occupation of the building since the late 60s.
A Ministry Official told, “We did not find any merit in their response and now we have sent the fresh notice for the organisation to put its stand before the quasi-judiciary body. The Directorate of Estates would then pass the order. We have followed the process to vacate the encroachment as per the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act.”
Earlier rejecting the claim of unauthorised occupancy, the JNMF in its response to the DoE said that the “premises in the east of Teen Murti House and which are within its boundary walls will remain the property of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library”.
Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh termed this a part of the Modi Project to obliterate Jawaharlal Nehru and his Legacy.
Teen Murti Bhavan is a British era house which acted as the resident of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army. After the independence of India, it became the residence of PM Jawaharlal Nehru. After the death of Nehru, the house was converted into a national memorial to him comprising a library and a museum.
The complex houses Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) which is a government of India institution run by the ministry of culture. Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, on the other hand, is a non-government institution, currently headed by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Fund offers research fellowships and scholarships to academics from various disciplines.
Director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Shakti Sinha had informed that the library needs the place occupied by the fund as the library is running out of space. “Currently, the library is overcrowded. We plan to construct a three-storeyed building on that spot where the administration offices and non-library activities will be shifted. The existing building will be used for library expansion and academic purposes,” he had said.
