The Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (IC), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel held a broad-based consultation meeting as part of preparations for the commemoration of the 125thBirth Anniversary of Neta Ji Subhash Chandra Bose in New Delhi today. The meeting was attended by family members of Netaji, members of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose INA Trust ,educationists, historians, and representatives of various organizations associated with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Among those who attended the meeting, includedVice Chairman Netaji Subhash Bose-INA Trust,Brig. (Retd) R. S. Chhikara; Major General (Retd.) Shri G. D. Bakshi; Netaji’sgrand nephew Shri Chandra Kumar Bose;Netaji’s nephew Shri Ardhendu Bose;grand niece of Netaji Ms. Renuka Malaker, Prof. Kapil Kumar(former professor of history), Dr J S Rajput(Trustee Netaji Subhash Bose-INA Trust) , Prof. Sudheer Singh and Shri Shubham Sharma, among others. Secretary Culture, Shri Raghvendra Singh; Member Secretary IGNCA, Dr.Sachhidanand Joshi and other senior officers of the Ministry of Culture were also present. A presentation was also made by Joint Secretary Culture, SmtNirupamaKotru.Addressing the participants, the Culture Minister said that the celebrations to commemorate 125th birth anniversary of Netaji would start from 23rd January, 2021 to pay a befitting tribute to the iconic leader. Referring to the suggestions made by the participants during the meeting, the Culture Minister said that a large array of historical documents, clippings, photos, videos, memorabilia and other material is available with the families of Netaji as well as those of INA members, which should be brought together at one place for display and dissemination.
Prahlad Singh Patel disclosed that a museum on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is proposed to be set up in Kolkata as a part of commemorations and that the current museum at Red Fort, New Delhi is also proposed to be expanded. He urged that a calendar of important dates associated with Netaji and INA should be drawn up for the purpose of celebrations. He welcomed the suggestion that the commemorations should travel beyond Indian shores, through our Embassies and Indian High Commissions. He thanked the august gathering for their valuable suggestions and welcomed their offer to contribute enthusiastically to make the commemoration a memorable one.Secretary Culture, Shri Raghvendra Singh said that the125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji wouldinclude a grand exhibition on Netaji at Victoria Memorial, Kolkata. Projection mapping will be taken up at the memorial and an eminent personality will deliver the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Memorial lecture. The celebrations would also include cultural programmes in West Bengalunder the “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat programme”, especially in partnership with paired State of West Bengal ieRajasthan.Some of the suggestions made by the participants included reprinting of some of the books written by Netaji as well as INA members, short lectures in schools and colleges, promoting Netaji as a youth icon and champion of gender equality, promotion through short videos on social media, activities for the youth using new technologies, starting fellowships for studies on Netaji, and inviting veterans of INA to lead the Republic Day parade, among others.