Rare pictures of Indira Gandhi at new exhibition
New Delhi, Nov. 17: Indira Gandhi’s original wedding card, a moving letter by Mahatama Gandhi written to her after her mother passed away, are among the rare photographs related to the former Prime Minister that will be showcased at an upcoming exhibition celebrating her 100th anniversary.
Titled, “Indira: A Life of Courage”, the show will feature 300 rare and unseen images from the archives of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, along with her personal collection of favourite attires.
Divided into five segments, the show will cover different aspects of her life — from her early days in Shantiniketan to her final day as the Prime Minister of India.
After her schooling, Indira went to Vishwa Bharati University in Shantiniketan under the tutelage of Rabindranath Tagore, and her time there have contributed significantly to the photo collection.
“The pictures that we have displayed from her time in Shantiniketan show her admiration for Tagore and the school,” Pramod Kumar K. G., the show’s curator said.
While in one of the group photographs Indira is seen posing with Tagore, in another she is seen performing during a dance event.
The show include a short video clipping of her marriage ceremony with Feroze Gandhi at her home — Anand Bhawan in Allahabad, and a picture clicked just before she dedicated the house to the nation. “When we decided to digitise the pictures, we were surprised to see the scale at which the objects and materials related to her life were present,” KG said.
Photographs of her family, including those of her grand children Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi, will also be part of the show.
Another photograph, accessed from Rangoon Studios, features the marriage ceremony of her elder son Sanjay Gandhi with Maneka Gandhi in 1974.
“This collection has come from many sources, including government, private sources,” he said.
While a major part of the exhibition will be held in the lawns of Indira Gandhi Memorial, a part of the show, to be held indoors, will feature apparels she wore during at some events. stalling development work by playing politics,” Mr Kataria added.
Giving reasons for its poor financial health, the corporation blamed revenueexpenditure mismatch of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
The NDMC spends around ` 280 crore by running five hospitals. Another reason for its ‘ dry’ situation was because of payment of salaries to employees, allowances, and pension,” claimed the NDMC. Apart from pending liabilities as on date, the corporation requires additional assistance of ` 342 crore only to clear the salaries, pensions and terminal benefits till March 2018.
The NDMC has also taken several steps to manage income- expenditure mismatch by creating fresh posts, rightsizing the existing manpower or abolishing posts, freeze on fresh recruitment, check on councillor funds, control on old age pension scheme, economy in purchase of medicines, replacing conventional street lights with LEDs to reduce the electricity expenditure.
◗ Divided into five segments, the show will cover different aspects of her life — from her early days in Shantiniketan to her final day as the Prime Minister