Lucknow: Twelve white marble statues of eminent personalities, that had been lying in the backyard of the UP Sangeet Natak Akademi, will finally get a respectable position.
The statues are now being cleaned on the directives of the state cultural department and may be installed in the state museum soon, which is already overcrowded and short on space. The statues, sculpted way back in 2009, were brought especially from Rajasthan to be installed at the Kanshi Ram Eco Park and each of them costs an estimated '30 lakhs.
The statues include two each of Gautam Buddha and Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar and one each of Dalit icons Jyotirao Phule, Sant Ravi Das, Sant Gadge Maharaj, Narayan Guru and eminent personalities such as Sant Kabir Das, Chhatrapati Shahuji, Birsa Munda and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
A senior official said that before the statues could be installed, the Mayawati government got voted out and the Samajwadi government showed no interest in celebrating Dalit icons.
“In fact, no one even bothered about the fate of these statues till recently when someone raised question through RTI and the Ambedkar Mahasabha approached the cultural department , requesting it to hand over the statues to them”, the official said.
Culture secretary Anita C. Meshram said that, “A government property cannot be transferred to any private organisation. We are examining the issue and following a proper procedure decisions will be taken. In all probability, the statues will be shifted to the state museum”.
Lalji Prasad Nirmal, president of Ambedkar Mahasabha, said they would continue to make efforts in getting the statues shifted to Mahasabha campus as Dalit sentiments are attached to the statues.
