Centre earmarks Rs. 60 cr. for building Kalam memorial.

The Union Government has earmarked Rs. 60 crore to construct a memorial for former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the site where his body was buried in Rameswaram. A high-power committee, comprising Union Minister of Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu and Defence Minister Manohar Parikar among others, had been formed to work out the modalities of the memorial complex, said V. Ponraj, adviser and close aide of the former President.

The burial site on a 1.67 acre land at Pei Karumbu was covered by a tin sheet and guarded by the State police. Since there was no fence, stray dogs and cattle entered the premises. A library, a museum, a ‘Virtual Reality Hall’ where students could come and interact with the simulated life size 3D live video image of Kalam and take oath virtually, a meditation centre and green landscape could be part of the memorial.

THE HINDU