Manmohan Singh memorial: Modi government to allocate site at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, next to Pranab Mukherjee samadhi

New Delhi: The Union government has identified a site at the ‘Rashtriya Smriti Sthal’ on the Yamuna banks here for a memorial for Manmohan Singh and informed the late former Prime Minister’s family earlier this month, sources said on Thursday.

The family is yet to convey its nod on the proposal as they are grieving, sources said. The proposed site is adjacent to the location allocated to former President Pranab Mukherjee recently.

As per procedure, the family has to form a Trust and land will be allocated to it for building the memorial. Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary K Srinivasan had recently met the family to convey the proposal of 1.5 acres at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.

The Congress had attacked the government over not allowing Singh’s cremation at a place where a memorial could be erected and accused it of insulting Singh and the Sikh community. Singh’s cremation was held at a public crematorium at Nigam Bodh Ghat.

The government had countered the Congress criticism saying it had informed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Singh’s family that a memorial would be built after forming a Trust so that land could be handed over to it at a later stage. It wanted the cremation to go ahead.