RAMESWARAM: In a fresh turn to the row over the Centre declining to convert former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s residence in New Delhi into a ‘Knowledge Centre’ as wished by many, the Delhi NCT (national capital territory) government headed by Arvind Kejriwal has come forward to set up the same if Kalam’s family parted with all his belongings.
The house in the national capital – No 10, Rajaji Marg-, where Dr Kalam lived until he passed away, was recently allotted to Union Culture minister, Mahesh Sharma, after which the entire set of books collected by the late President – some 5000 of them- besides his other belongings including his ‘Veena’ were boxed in 205 parcels and sent to his ancestral home in Rameswaram. The entire Kalam paraphernalia reached there only on Oct 27.
However, an online campaign was launched to preserve the works of Dr Kalam and his contributions to technology, science teaching and his passion to take science to the youth to help build a “progressive and prosperous India”, by converting the house he lived in the national capital into a ‘Kalam Centre for Knowledge Discovery’. It was to showcase all that he had used in his life-long mission, even as there was a lull after Centre rejected the idea.
Back home in Rameswaram, Dr Kalam’s relatives found it difficult to even accommodate the entire set of belongings in their humble residence, while plans were afoot to shift all of them to the proposed ‘Kalam memorial’ that the Centre planned to help construct at ‘Peykarumbu’, the place where the late President’s body was interred in the pilgrim-island. Meanwhile, the Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, had informed that the NCT Government would honour Dr Kalam’s memory by setting up such a Centre, provided the latter’s family was willing to give all his belongings including Dr Kalam’s books and collection of his papers, writings, etc. to the NCT. This offer has been received with ‘great joy’ by his family members, according to the late President’s grandnephew Salim.
Accordingly, Dr Kalam’s elder brother, Mohammed Muthumeeran Labbai Maricar on Wednesday wrote a letter to Mr Kejriwal giving the family’s consent to return the entire Kalam paraphanalia to the Delhi Government for the purpose, so that the youth in particular could profit from them when displayed at the proposed ‘Kalam Centre for Knowledge Discovery’.
“Our family has wholeheartedly accepted Mr Kejriwal’s offer and we are thrilled that all that was left behind by Dr Kalam could be very useful in this way to both students and scientists,” said Mr Salim to reporters here.
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